Kadant (NYSE:KAI) Upgraded at Zacks Research

Zacks Research upgraded shares of Kadant (NYSE:KAI) from a hold rating to a strong-buy rating in a report issued on Tuesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other research analysts also recently weighed in on the stock. DA Davidson set a $303.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a report on Friday, February 20th. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kadant in a research report on Friday, March 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has given a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kadant presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $341.50.

Kadant Trading Up 1.1%

NYSE KAI opened at $326.81 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $3.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 37.78 and a beta of 1.26. Kadant has a 52 week low of $244.87 and a 52 week high of $369.97. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $319.59 and a 200-day moving average price of $303.90. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.61. Kadant had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 9.69%.The company had revenue of $286.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $274.43 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.25 EPS. Kadant’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, equities analysts expect that Kadant will post 11.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.4%. This is a positive change from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Kadant’s payout ratio is presently 16.65%.

Institutional Trading of Kadant

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KAI. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its holdings in Kadant by 1,300.0% during the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 84 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kadant during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Kadant by 102.3% during the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 87 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Kestra Advisory Services LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter worth approximately $29,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

About Kadant

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.