Kadant Inc $KAI Shares Bought by Van ECK Associates Corp

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 91.6% in the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,404 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 2,106 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Kadant were worth $1,384,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KAI. CWM LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kadant by 102.3% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 87 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its position in shares of Kadant by 1,300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 84 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kadant in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Kadant during the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new position in Kadant during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 96.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KAI has been the topic of several recent research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Kadant from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Wall Street Zen cut shares of Kadant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 15th. DA Davidson lifted their price target on shares of Kadant from $306.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered shares of Kadant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kadant has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $357.50.

Kadant Price Performance

Kadant stock opened at $298.87 on Friday. Kadant Inc has a 1 year low of $244.87 and a 1 year high of $354.07. 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 firm has a 50 day moving average price of $311.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $314.13. The company has a market cap of $3.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.14 and a beta of 1.17.

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

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