JPMorgan Chase & Co. Buys 58,382 Shares of Kadant Inc $KAI

JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted its position in shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 141.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 99,703 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 58,382 shares during the quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. owned approximately 0.85% of Kadant worth $29,670,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D lifted its stake in shares of Kadant by 6.8% during the third quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D now owns 6,512 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,938,000 after acquiring an additional 415 shares during the period. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. raised its holdings in Kadant by 36.8% during the 3rd quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,639 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $488,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. Aberdeen Group plc lifted its position in Kadant by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Aberdeen Group plc now owns 48,179 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $14,386,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Public Sector Pension Investment Board boosted its stake in shares of Kadant by 14.5% in the 3rd quarter. Public Sector Pension Investment Board now owns 45,926 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $13,667,000 after purchasing an additional 5,813 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund grew its position in shares of Kadant by 3.5% during the 3rd quarter. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund now owns 6,255 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,861,000 after buying an additional 211 shares during the period. 96.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kadant Stock Performance

Shares of Kadant stock opened at $338.93 on Friday. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $318.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $304.97. The company has a current ratio of 8.97, a quick ratio of 5.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38. The company has a market capitalization of $3.99 billion, a PE ratio of 39.18 and a beta of 1.25. Kadant Inc has a 12 month low of $244.87 and a 12 month high of $381.73.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $2.27 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $286.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $274.43 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 9.69%.The company’s revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $2.25 earnings per share. Kadant has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.780-1.880 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.750 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that Kadant Inc will post 9.97 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kadant in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $303.00 price objective on Kadant in a research note on Friday, February 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kadant currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.