Kadant Inc $KAI Shares Sold by Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC

Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC cut its position in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 8.1% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 44,903 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,943 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC’s holdings in Kadant were worth $13,049,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KAI. M&T Bank Corp grew its stake in shares of Kadant by 76,036.6% during the fourth quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 738,525 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $210,494,000 after purchasing an additional 737,555 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Kadant by 56.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 494,773 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $141,020,000 after buying an additional 178,563 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Kadant during the 4th quarter worth about $42,985,000. Wasatch Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Kadant by 13.7% during the 1st quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,038,548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $303,619,000 after buying an additional 125,342 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Riverbridge Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Kadant by 43.4% during the 1st quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC now owns 252,230 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $73,739,000 after acquiring an additional 76,366 shares in the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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

Kadant Stock Performance

NYSE KAI opened at $308.32 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $307.49 and a two-hundred day moving average of $315.33. The company has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a PE ratio of 35.16 and a beta of 1.20. Kadant Inc has a 1 year low of $244.87 and a 1 year high of $369.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.53.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.73. Kadant had a return on equity of 12.13% and a net margin of 9.45%.The business had revenue of $281.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $274.95 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $2.10 earnings per share. The business’s revenue 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, analysts expect that Kadant Inc will post 12.42 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant Announces Dividend

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

Kadant announced that its board has approved a stock repurchase 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 reacquire up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 1,227 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $334.17, for a total value of $410,026.59. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $455,473.71. This 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 can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.30% 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.