Riverbridge Partners LLC Sells 22,519 Shares of Kadant Inc $KAI

Riverbridge Partners LLC decreased its holdings in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 11.4% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 175,864 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 22,519 shares during the quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC’s holdings in Kadant were worth $50,125,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Kadant during the 2nd quarter valued at $40,019,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position 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 during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Kadant by 3.6% during the 2nd quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 984,193 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $312,432,000 after purchasing an additional 34,561 shares in the last quarter. Amundi increased its position in shares of Kadant by 163.8% during the third quarter. Amundi now owns 55,036 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $16,374,000 after buying an additional 34,170 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Kadant by 23.8% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 147,463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $46,812,000 after buying an additional 28,380 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Stock Performance

Shares of KAI stock opened at $299.38 on Friday. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $326.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $303.40. The stock has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a PE ratio of 34.61 and a beta of 1.22. The company has a current ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 1.47 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. Kadant Inc has a 12 month low of $244.87 and a 12 month high of $369.97.

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

Kadant Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. This is a positive change from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 15th. Kadant’s payout ratio is 16.65%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on KAI shares. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a research note on Tuesday, February 24th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kadant in a report on Monday, December 29th. Finally, DA Davidson set a $303.00 target price on Kadant in a research report on Friday, February 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $341.50.

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.