Kadant (NYSE:KAI) Given Outperform Rating at Barrington Research

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

Several other analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kadant in a report on Monday, December 29th. DA Davidson set a $303.00 price objective on Kadant in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $341.50.

Kadant Stock Up 2.6%

Kadant stock opened at $335.95 on Tuesday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $315.75 and a two-hundred day moving average of $304.61. Kadant has a twelve month low of $244.87 and a twelve month high of $387.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.96 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.84 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a current ratio of 8.97, a quick ratio of 5.22 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $2.27 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.08. Kadant had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 9.69%.The business had revenue of $286.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $274.43 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $2.25 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Kadant has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.780-1.880 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.750 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Kadant will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kadant

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kadant by 11.2% in the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,763 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $931,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC raised its holdings in Kadant by 8.6% during the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 907 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its position in Kadant by 4.7% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,985 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,353,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new stake in Kadant during the first quarter worth $255,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Kadant by 1.4% in the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 30,974 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,435,000 after purchasing an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.