Kadant Inc $KAI is Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC’s Largest Position

Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 85.8% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 211,036 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 97,433 shares during the quarter. Kadant makes up 16.1% of Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC’s portfolio, making the stock its biggest holding. Grandeur Peak Global Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kadant were worth $66,314,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. BlackRock Inc. bought a new position in Kadant in the 2nd quarter worth $565,205,000. Capital World Investors lifted its position in shares of Kadant by 56.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 494,773 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $141,020,000 after purchasing an additional 178,563 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Kadant during the 4th quarter valued at about $42,985,000. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Kadant by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,038,548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $303,619,000 after purchasing an additional 125,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE purchased a new position in shares of Kadant during the second quarter valued at about $33,994,000. 96.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kadant Stock Performance

Shares of KAI stock opened at $302.57 on Monday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $313.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $315.36. The stock has a market cap of $3.57 billion, a PE ratio of 32.53 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 2.59, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. Kadant Inc has a 12 month low of $244.87 and a 12 month high of $354.07.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.48. Kadant had a net margin of 9.52% and a return on equity of 13.16%. The company had revenue of $312.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $299.17 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.31 EPS. Kadant’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Kadant has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.430-12.680 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.900-3.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Kadant Inc will post 12.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant declared that its board has initiated a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 21st that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Kadant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Weiss Ratings raised Kadant from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Wall Street Zen downgraded Kadant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their target price on Kadant from $306.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $357.50.

Kadant 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.