Kadant (NYSE:KAI) Receives “Outperform” Rating from Barrington Research

Barrington Research reissued their outperform rating on shares of Kadant (NYSE:KAI) in a report issued on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $360.00 price objective on the industrial products company’s stock. Barrington Research also issued estimates for Kadant’s Q4 2024 earnings at $2.00 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $2.47 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $3.06 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.20 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.70 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $3.33 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $3.37 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $11.83 EPS.

Separately, DA Davidson upped their price objective on Kadant from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 1st.

Kadant Stock Up 3.1 %

KAI opened at $343.38 on Wednesday. The firm has a market cap of $4.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.15 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a current ratio of 2.25. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $323.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $305.86. Kadant has a twelve month low of $231.83 and a twelve month high of $363.40.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.41. Kadant had a return on equity of 15.41% and a net margin of 11.12%. The company had revenue of $271.61 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $266.38 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $2.69 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Kadant will post 9.99 EPS for the current year.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a dividend of $0.32 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.28 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.37%. Kadant’s payout ratio is 13.10%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 2,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total transaction of $674,800.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 4,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,433,950. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kadant

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Kadant by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Kayne Anderson Rudnick Investment Management LLC now owns 1,349,437 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $396,438,000 after acquiring an additional 15,512 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its position in Kadant by 46.3% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 967,638 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $317,482,000 after acquiring an additional 306,352 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Kadant by 1.8% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 314,366 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $92,355,000 after acquiring an additional 5,700 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors bought a new position in shares of Kadant in the first quarter worth about $92,993,000. Finally, Raymond James & Associates lifted its holdings in shares of Kadant by 6.5% in the second quarter. Raymond James & Associates now owns 84,117 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $24,712,000 after acquiring an additional 5,167 shares during the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

About Kadant

Kadant Inc supplies technologies and engineered systems worldwide. It operates in three segments: Flow Control, Industrial Processing, and Material Handling. The Flow Control segment develops, manufactures, and markets fluid-handling systems and equipment, such as rotary joints, syphons, turbulator bars, expansion joints, and engineered steam and condensate systems; and doctoring, cleaning, and filtration systems and related consumables consisting of doctor systems and holders, doctor blades, cleaning shower and fabric-conditioning systems, forming systems and wear surfaces, and water-filtration systems.