Geode Capital Management LLC Has $89.65 Million Holdings in Kadant Inc $KAI

Geode Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 0.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 314,496 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 2,294 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Kadant were worth $89,651,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in Kadant by 102.3% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 87 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System lifted its holdings in Kadant by 1.4% during the third quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 3,484 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,037,000 after acquiring an additional 47 shares in the last quarter. Allworth Financial LP lifted its holdings in Kadant by 89.1% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 104 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after acquiring an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Blair William & Co. IL lifted its holdings in Kadant by 0.4% during the third quarter. Blair William & Co. IL now owns 11,723 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,489,000 after acquiring an additional 50 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp lifted its holdings in Kadant by 2.9% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $599,000 after acquiring an additional 57 shares in the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kadant Price Performance

NYSE:KAI opened at $292.75 on Monday. 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 stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $314.26 and its 200 day simple moving average is $311.01. The company has a market cap of $3.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.38 and a beta of 1.20. Kadant Inc has a 52-week low of $244.87 and a 52-week high of $369.97.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released its 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 for 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%.Kadant’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 earnings per share. 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, sell-side analysts forecast that Kadant Inc will post 12.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

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 given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 16th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Kadant’s payout ratio is currently 16.42%.

Kadant announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 21st that authorizes the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KAI has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. DA Davidson set a $303.00 target price on Kadant in a report on Friday, February 20th. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Kadant from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Kadant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Kadant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $341.50.

Insider Activity

In related news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 1,227 shares of Kadant stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $455,473.71. The trade was a 47.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

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.