Kadant (NYSE:KAI) SVP Sells $410,026.59 in Stock

Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) SVP Stacy Krause sold 1,227 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $334.17, for a total transaction of $410,026.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,363 shares in the company, valued at $455,473.71. The trade was a 47.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink.

Kadant Stock Performance

KAI stock traded up $3.81 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, hitting $333.38. 194,968 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 161,748. Kadant Inc has a 1-year low of $244.87 and a 1-year high of $369.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a PE ratio of 38.01 and a beta of 1.19. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $312.70 and a 200-day simple moving average of $308.03. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.73. Kadant had a return on equity of 12.13% and a net margin of 9.45%.The company had revenue of $281.51 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $274.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $2.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. Kadant has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.880-2.980 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 12.330-12.680 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Kadant Inc will post 12.5 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant declared that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 21st that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 16th. Kadant’s payout ratio is currently 16.42%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kadant

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KAI. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Kadant by 102.3% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 87 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd increased its holdings in Kadant by 1,300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 84 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Kadant in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Kadant in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Kadant in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. 96.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently commented on KAI shares. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Kadant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. Zacks Research lowered shares of Kadant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. DA Davidson set a $303.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings raised shares of Kadant from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $341.50.

Kadant Company Profile

Kadant Inc, headquartered in Westford, Massachusetts, is a global supplier of high?value, critical components and engineered systems for the pulp and paper industry and other process industries. The company’s product portfolio spans stock preparation technologies, refiners and pulpers, fluid handling systems, and web?handling equipment designed to optimize the efficiency and quality of paper production. In addition to capital equipment, Kadant offers aftermarket services, including spare parts, maintenance programs and process optimization consulting, which together support long?term customer productivity and reliability.

Originally part of a larger industrial conglomerate, Kadant was established as an independent public company in 1991.