Kadant (NYSE:KAI) Downgraded by Wall Street Zen to “Hold”

Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Kadant (NYSE:KAI) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report released on Saturday.

A number of other equities analysts have also commented on the company. DA Davidson raised their price target on Kadant from $306.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Zacks Research lowered Kadant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Kadant from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $357.50.

Kadant Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of Kadant stock opened at $333.88 on Friday. Kadant has a 52-week low of $244.87 and a 52-week high of $354.07. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $309.71 and its 200 day simple moving average is $316.59. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.90 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 5.37 and a current ratio of 2.59.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.42 EPS for the quarter, beating 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 business had revenue of $312.88 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $299.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $2.31 earnings per share. The company’s 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. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Kadant will post 12.54 EPS for the current year.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 16th were issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 16th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Kadant’s payout ratio is presently 15.48%.

Kadant declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 21st that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kadant news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 1,227 shares of Kadant stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 sale, 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 SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.30% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. CWM LLC boosted its position in Kadant by 102.3% during the fourth 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 grew its position in shares of 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 worth $25,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Kadant in the second quarter valued at $27,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kadant during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new stake in shares of Kadant during the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.