OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC Buys New Position in Kadant Inc $KAI

OneDigital Investment Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm bought 2,660 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $836,000.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Kadant by 1,300.0% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 84 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kadant in the second quarter worth $27,000. CWM LLC boosted its holdings in Kadant by 102.3% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 87 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC bought a new position in Kadant in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Danske Bank A S bought a new position in Kadant in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Stock Down 6.2%

Shares of KAI stock opened at $309.37 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.59. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $310.72 and its 200-day moving average is $316.58. The stock has a market cap of $3.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.27 and a beta of 1.20. Kadant Inc has a 52-week low of $244.87 and a 52-week high of $354.07.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.42 earnings per share (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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $299.17 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.31 EPS. Kadant’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Kadant has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.430-12.680 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.900-3.000 EPS. Sell-side analysts predict that Kadant Inc will post 12.54 EPS for the current year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 16th were paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 16th. Kadant’s payout ratio is currently 15.48%.

Kadant declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have commented on KAI shares. Zacks Research cut shares of Kadant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Weiss Ratings downgraded Kadant from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. DA Davidson upped their target price on Kadant from $306.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen cut Kadant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday. Finally, 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. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kadant currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $357.50.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kadant

In related news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 1,227 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $334.17, for a total transaction of $410,026.59. Following the transaction, the senior vice president directly owned 1,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $455,473.71. The trade was a 47.37% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.