Royce & Associates LP Has $58.41 Million Position in Kadant Inc $KAI

Royce & Associates LP grew its holdings in shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 30.8% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 204,937 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 48,286 shares during the quarter. Kadant accounts for 0.6% of Royce & Associates LP’s holdings, making the stock its 22nd biggest position. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Kadant were worth $58,411,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Legal & General Group Plc grew its holdings in Kadant by 0.5% during the 4th quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 86,572 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $24,675,000 after acquiring an additional 391 shares during the period. Hantz Financial Services Inc. grew its holdings in Kadant by 497.6% during the 4th quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 245 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $70,000 after acquiring an additional 204 shares during the period. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. acquired a new stake in Kadant during the 4th quarter worth about $1,144,000. MQS Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter valued at about $219,000. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter valued at about $654,000. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently commented on KAI. 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 research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a research note on Monday, May 4th. DA Davidson set a $303.00 target price on Kadant in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Kadant from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kadant currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $341.50.

Kadant Price Performance

KAI stock opened at $319.44 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $3.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.42 and a beta of 1.19. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 2.47. Kadant Inc has a 52-week low of $244.87 and a 52-week high of $369.97. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $312.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $307.63.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.73. The business had revenue of $281.51 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $274.95 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 12.13% and a net margin of 9.45%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $2.10 EPS. Kadant has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.880-2.980 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 12.330-12.680 EPS. Research analysts expect that Kadant Inc will post 12.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

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

Kadant declared that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Thursday, May 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to buy up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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.