William Blair Issues Pessimistic Outlook for Kadant Earnings

Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) – Equities research analysts at William Blair dropped their Q4 2025 earnings per share (EPS) estimates for shares of Kadant in a research note issued on Wednesday, October 29th. William Blair analyst R. Sparenblek now expects that the industrial products company will post earnings of $2.10 per share for the quarter, down from their prior estimate of $2.59. The consensus estimate for Kadant’s current full-year earnings is $9.97 per share. William Blair also issued estimates for Kadant’s Q2 2026 earnings at $2.84 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $3.19 EPS and Q4 2026 earnings at $2.63 EPS.

Several other brokerages have also recently weighed in on KAI. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a report on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Kadant in a report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, DA Davidson increased their target price on Kadant from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, August 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $340.00.

Kadant Price Performance

Shares of Kadant stock opened at $277.02 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 9.39, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.26 billion, a PE ratio of 32.02 and a beta of 1.22. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $304.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $315.48. Kadant has a 12 month low of $270.21 and a 12 month high of $429.95.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $2.59 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.41. The business had revenue of $271.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $260.17 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 11.97% and a net margin of 9.96%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up .0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $2.84 EPS. Kadant has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.050-2.250 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 9.050-9.250 EPS.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KAI. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kadant in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. Maseco LLP bought a new position in shares of Kadant in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. First Horizon Corp bought a new position in shares of Kadant in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $30,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new position in shares of Kadant in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new position in Kadant during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 415 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.41, for a total value of $140,440.15. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 4,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,438,242.50. This represents a 8.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be given a $0.34 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 9th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.72%.

Kadant Company Profile

Kadant Inc supplies technologies and engineered systems worldwide. It operates in three segments: Flow Control, Industrial Processing, and Material Handling. The Flow Control segment develops, manufactures, and markets fluid-handling systems and equipment, such as rotary joints, syphons, turbulator bars, expansion joints, and engineered steam and condensate systems; and doctoring, cleaning, and filtration systems and related consumables consisting of doctor systems and holders, doctor blades, cleaning shower and fabric-conditioning systems, forming systems and wear surfaces, and water-filtration systems.