Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY Purchases Shares of 29,800 Kadant Inc $KAI

Paradigm Capital Management Inc. NY acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 29,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $9,364,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. BlackRock Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 2nd quarter valued at about $565,205,000. Capital World Investors raised its stake in Kadant by 56.5% during the 4th quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 494,773 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $141,020,000 after buying an additional 178,563 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Kadant in the fourth quarter worth approximately $42,985,000. Wasatch Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Kadant by 13.7% in the first quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,038,548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $303,619,000 after acquiring an additional 125,342 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Kadant in the second quarter valued at approximately $25,923,000. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Kadant

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

Kadant Price Performance

KAI stock opened at $312.71 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 1.63 and a current ratio of 2.59. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $312.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $316.26. The company has a market capitalization of $3.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 33.62 and a beta of 1.20. Kadant Inc has a 52-week low of $244.87 and a 52-week high of $354.07.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.42 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.48. Kadant had a return on equity of 13.16% and a net margin of 9.52%.The firm had revenue of $312.88 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $299.17 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $2.31 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Kadant has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.430-12.680 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.900-3.000 EPS. Research analysts expect that Kadant Inc will post 12.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 21st that permits the company to repurchase $50.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to buy up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Wall Street Zen downgraded Kadant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Zacks Research cut Kadant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Kadant from $306.00 to $335.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 6th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Kadant from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Monday, August 17th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kadant currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $357.50.

Kadant Company 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.