Pictet Asset Management Holding SA Acquires 11,827 Shares of Kadant Inc $KAI

Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 27.3% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 55,073 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 11,827 shares during the period. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA’s holdings in Kadant were worth $16,101,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Kadant by 13.7% during the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,038,548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $303,619,000 after purchasing an additional 125,342 shares during the last quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in Kadant in the 1st quarter valued at $1,520,000. Riverbridge Partners LLC increased its stake in Kadant by 43.4% in the 1st quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC now owns 252,230 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,739,000 after buying an additional 76,366 shares during the last quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC lifted its position in Kadant by 1.8% during the 1st quarter. Mountain Pacific Investment Advisers LLC now owns 11,626 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,399,000 after buying an additional 204 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its position in Kadant by 273.2% during the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 418 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $119,000 after buying an additional 306 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 1,227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $334.17, for a total value of $410,026.59. Following the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $455,473.71. This represents a 47.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on KAI shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Kadant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Kadant from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded Kadant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kadant presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $341.50.

Kadant Trading Up 0.5%

Shares of Kadant stock opened at $308.63 on Friday. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $311.62 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $314.26. Kadant Inc has a 1 year low of $244.87 and a 1 year high of $369.97. The company has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 35.19 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.53.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.73. Kadant had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 12.13%. The firm had revenue of $281.51 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $274.95 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.10 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Kadant has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.880-2.980 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 12.330-12.680 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Kadant Inc will post 12.42 EPS for the current year.

Kadant announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 21st that permits the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to buy up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 16th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 16th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Kadant’s payout ratio is presently 16.42%.

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.