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

Barrington Research reissued their outperform rating on shares of Kadant (NYSE:KAI) in a report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a $380.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on KAI. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kadant from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, July 5th. DA Davidson upped their target price on Kadant from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, August 4th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $340.00.

Kadant Stock Performance

KAI opened at $304.91 on Tuesday. Kadant has a 52-week low of $281.30 and a 52-week high of $429.95. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $3.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.95 and a beta of 1.25. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $328.47 and its 200-day moving average price is $323.14.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.31 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.94 by $0.37. Kadant had a net margin of 10.34% and a return on equity of 12.62%. The firm had revenue of $255.27 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $245.99 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $2.81 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Kadant has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 2.130-2.230 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 9.050-9.250 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Kadant will post 9.97 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 6th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 9th. Kadant’s payout ratio is currently 15.14%.

Insider Activity at Kadant

In other news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 415 shares of Kadant stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.41, for a total transaction of $140,440.15. Following the transaction, the director owned 4,250 shares in the company, valued at $1,438,242.50. The trade was a 8.90% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 1.20% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kadant

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant during the 2nd quarter worth about $27,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Kadant during the 1st quarter valued at about $30,000. Maseco LLP purchased a new position in Kadant during the 2nd quarter valued at about $30,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. purchased a new position in Kadant during the 2nd quarter valued at about $31,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank boosted its holdings in Kadant by 148.0% during the 2nd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 124 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $39,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares during the period. 96.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kadant Company Profile

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.