Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Purchases New Shares in Kadant Inc $KAI

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 24,958 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,843,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M&T Bank Corp raised its holdings in Kadant by 76,036.6% in the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 738,525 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $210,494,000 after purchasing an additional 737,555 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors boosted its holdings in shares of Kadant by 56.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 494,773 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $141,020,000 after buying an additional 178,563 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter worth about $42,985,000. Wasatch Advisors LP grew its position in shares of Kadant by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,038,548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $303,619,000 after buying an additional 125,342 shares during the period. Finally, Riverbridge Partners LLC increased its stake in shares of Kadant by 43.4% in the 1st quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC now owns 252,230 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,739,000 after acquiring an additional 76,366 shares in the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 1,227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KAI. Zacks Research cut shares of Kadant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a report on Monday, May 4th. Wall Street Zen downgraded shares of Kadant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday. DA Davidson lifted their target price on shares of Kadant from $306.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Weiss Ratings cut Kadant from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $357.50.

Kadant Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KAI opened at $333.88 on Friday. Kadant Inc has a 1-year low of $244.87 and a 1-year high of $354.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 5.37. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $309.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $316.59. The company has a market capitalization of $3.94 billion, a PE ratio of 35.90 and a beta of 1.20.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $312.88 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $299.17 million. Kadant had a net margin of 9.52% and a return on equity of 13.16%. Kadant’s revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $2.31 EPS. 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, equities analysts expect that Kadant Inc will post 12.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Kadant Announces Dividend

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

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.