Kadant Inc $KAI Shares Sold by Bessemer Group Inc.

Bessemer Group Inc. trimmed its stake in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 48.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 39,742 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 38,105 shares during the period. Bessemer Group Inc. owned approximately 0.34% of Kadant worth $11,619,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its holdings in shares of Kadant by 141.3% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,703 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,670,000 after purchasing an additional 58,382 shares during the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,500,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Kadant during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,144,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in Kadant by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 43,246 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,326,000 after buying an additional 6,123 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC increased its position in Kadant by 44.8% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 48,846 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $13,989,000 after buying an additional 15,111 shares during the period. 96.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Kadant

In related news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 1,227 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $334.17, for a total transaction of $410,026.59. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $455,473.71. This trade represents a 47.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have weighed in on KAI. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Kadant from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Kadant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Zacks Research downgraded shares of Kadant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $341.50.

Kadant Trading Up 0.0%

Shares of KAI stock opened at $311.12 on Monday. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $308.45 and its 200 day moving average price is $315.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.53. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.67 billion, a PE ratio of 35.47 and a beta of 1.20. Kadant Inc has a 1-year low of $244.87 and a 1-year high of $369.97.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.73. Kadant had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 12.13%. The firm had revenue of $281.51 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $274.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $2.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Kadant has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.880-2.980 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 12.330-12.680 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kadant Inc will post 12.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock buyback plan on Thursday, May 21st that allows the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 16th. Kadant’s payout ratio is 16.42%.

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.