Kadant Inc $KAI Shares Acquired by JPMorgan Chase & Co.

JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 141.3% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 99,703 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 58,382 shares during the period. JPMorgan Chase & Co.’s holdings in Kadant were worth $29,670,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Kadant by 11.2% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,763 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $931,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Kadant by 8.6% in the first quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 907 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its position in Kadant by 4.7% during the 1st 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 during the period. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new stake in Kadant during the 1st quarter worth about $255,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its stake in shares of Kadant by 1.4% during the 1st 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 buying an additional 441 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Price Performance

Shares of Kadant stock opened at $296.07 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $3.49 billion, a PE ratio of 34.23 and a beta of 1.22. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $326.71 and a 200 day moving average price of $303.48. 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 Inc has a twelve month low of $244.87 and a twelve month high of $369.97.

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

Kadant Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. 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 0.5%. This is an increase from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio is 15.72%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KAI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a report on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kadant in a research report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $303.00 price target on Kadant in a report on Friday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $341.50.

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.