Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC Reduces Holdings in Kadant Inc $KAI

Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC trimmed its holdings in shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 2.9% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 209,949 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 6,255 shares during the quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC owned approximately 1.78% of Kadant worth $61,379,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased 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 worth $29,670,000 after purchasing an additional 58,382 shares in the last quarter. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new position in Kadant during the third quarter valued at $1,500,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. purchased a new position in Kadant during the fourth quarter valued at $1,144,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in Kadant by 16.5% during the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 43,246 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $12,326,000 after purchasing an additional 6,123 shares during the period. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC grew its holdings 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 valued at $13,989,000 after purchasing 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 other Kadant news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 1,227 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $334.17, for a total value of $410,026.59. Following the sale, the senior vice president owned 1,363 shares in the company, valued at $455,473.71. The trade was a 47.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms have recently commented on KAI. Zacks Research downgraded Kadant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Kadant from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note 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, Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 target price 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 issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $341.50.

Kadant Stock Performance

NYSE:KAI opened at $308.03 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $311.86 and a 200 day moving average price of $314.14. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.12 and a beta of 1.20. Kadant Inc has a 12-month low of $244.87 and a 12-month high of $369.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $274.95 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $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. Equities research analysts forecast that Kadant Inc will post 12.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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

Kadant Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors 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 yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 16th. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 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.