Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC Buys 15,111 Shares of Kadant Inc $KAI

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC lifted its position in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 44.8% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 48,846 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 15,111 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC owned 0.41% of Kadant worth $13,989,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KAI. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its stake in Kadant by 1,300.0% in the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 84 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in Kadant during the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. First Horizon Corp bought a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its holdings in shares of Kadant by 89.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 104 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $35,000. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson set a $303.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a report on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kadant in a report on Friday, March 27th. Finally, Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $341.50.

Kadant Stock Performance

Shares of KAI stock opened at $286.53 on Friday. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $322.09 and its 200-day simple moving average is $302.10. The company has a market cap of $3.38 billion, a PE ratio of 33.12 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Kadant Inc has a 12-month low of $244.87 and a 12-month high of $369.97.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $2.80 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $286.20 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $274.43 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 9.69%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.25 EPS. Kadant has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.780-1.880 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.750 EPS. Analysts expect that Kadant Inc will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Kadant’s payout ratio is presently 15.72%.

Kadant 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.