King Luther Capital Management Corp Sells 2,940 Shares of Kadant Inc $KAI

King Luther Capital Management Corp trimmed its holdings in shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 62.7% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,752 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 2,940 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Kadant were worth $499,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWM LLC grew its position in Kadant by 102.3% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 87 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 44 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System grew its position 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 valued at $1,037,000 after buying an additional 47 shares during the period. Allworth Financial LP grew its position in Kadant by 89.1% during the third quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 104 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $31,000 after buying an additional 49 shares during the period. Blair William & Co. IL grew its position 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 valued at $3,489,000 after buying an additional 50 shares during the period. Finally, Synovus Financial Corp grew its position in Kadant by 2.9% during the third quarter. Synovus Financial Corp now owns 2,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $599,000 after buying an additional 57 shares during the period. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kadant Stock Performance

KAI opened at $319.96 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 36.48 and a beta of 1.19. Kadant Inc has a 1-year low of $244.87 and a 1-year high of $369.97. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $314.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $308.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.53.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.11 by $0.73. The business had revenue of $281.51 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $274.95 million. Kadant had a net margin of 9.45% and a return on equity of 12.13%. The company’s revenue was up 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $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. Equities analysts forecast that Kadant Inc will post 12.5 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kadant declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share buyback program 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 programs are usually an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

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 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 dividend yield of 0.5%. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 16.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kadant

In related news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 1,227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $334.17, for a total transaction of $410,026.59. Following the completion of the transaction, the senior vice president owned 1,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $455,473.71. This represents a 47.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

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