Quantinno Capital Management LP Boosts Stock Position in Kadant Inc $KAI

Quantinno Capital Management LP lifted its stake in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 49.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 6,747 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,243 shares during the period. Quantinno Capital Management LP owned approximately 0.06% of Kadant worth $1,972,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KAI. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Kadant by 11.2% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,763 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $931,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Kadant by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 907 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $306,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. grew its holdings in Kadant by 4.7% during the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,985 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,353,000 after buying an additional 311 shares in the last quarter. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in Kadant during the 1st quarter valued at about $255,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC increased its position in shares of Kadant by 1.4% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 30,974 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,435,000 after buying an additional 441 shares during the period. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on KAI shares. Zacks Research downgraded shares of Kadant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Kadant from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 3rd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Kadant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. DA Davidson increased their target price on shares of Kadant from $306.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a report on Monday, May 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $357.50.

Kadant Stock Up 1.4%

Shares of NYSE:KAI opened at $338.02 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 5.37 and a current ratio of 9.05. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.99 billion, a PE ratio of 36.35 and a beta of 1.20. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $307.87 and a 200 day moving average of $316.38. Kadant Inc has a 52-week low of $244.87 and a 52-week high of $357.65.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.42 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $312.88 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $299.17 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 13.16% and a net margin of 9.52%.Kadant’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $2.31 EPS. Kadant has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.430-12.680 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.900-3.000 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc will post 12.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 16th will be issued 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 0.4%. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 15.48%.

Kadant declared that its board has approved a stock buyback 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 stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 1,227 shares of Kadant 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 transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,363 shares in the company, valued at $455,473.71. This trade represents 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. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by 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.