Brown Advisory Inc. Has $58.49 Million Stake in Kadant Inc $KAI

Brown Advisory Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 37.1% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 205,195 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 55,510 shares during the quarter. Brown Advisory Inc.’s holdings in Kadant were worth $58,485,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KAI. M&T Bank Corp grew its position in 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 buying an additional 737,555 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors lifted its stake in shares of Kadant by 56.5% in the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 494,773 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $141,020,000 after acquiring an additional 178,563 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter valued at $42,985,000. Bessemer Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kadant by 1,619.6% in the 4th quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 77,847 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $22,188,000 after acquiring an additional 73,320 shares during the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its stake 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 acquiring an additional 58,382 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KAI opened at $282.82 on Monday. Kadant Inc has a fifty-two week low of $244.87 and a fifty-two week high of $369.97. The stock has a market cap of $3.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.25 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 2.47. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $313.89 and its 200 day simple moving average is $312.06.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $281.51 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $274.95 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. The firm’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, research analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc will post 12.42 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced 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 dividend yield of 0.5%. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 16.42%.

Kadant announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to buy up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have recently commented on KAI shares. Wall Street Zen upgraded Kadant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. 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. Zacks Research lowered shares of Kadant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. DA Davidson set a $303.00 price target on Kadant in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Kadant from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $341.50.

Insider Activity at Kadant

In other Kadant news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 1,227 shares of Kadant stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $334.17, for a total transaction of $410,026.59. Following the transaction, 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.