Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC Sells 85,454 Shares of Kadant Inc $KAI

Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC trimmed its position in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 27.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 226,802 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 85,454 shares during the quarter. Chevy Chase Trust Holdings LLC owned approximately 1.93% of Kadant worth $67,492,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of KAI. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Kadant during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $27,000. First Horizon Corp bought a new position in Kadant in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Root Financial Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kadant during the 3rd quarter valued at $35,000. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC grew its position in shares of Kadant by 278.0% during the 2nd quarter. Smartleaf Asset Management LLC now owns 189 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 139 shares in the last quarter. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kadant by 46.9% in the third quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 238 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $71,000 after purchasing an additional 76 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Stock Performance

Kadant stock opened at $304.93 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.47, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.37. The company has a market capitalization of $3.60 billion, a PE ratio of 35.25 and a beta of 1.22. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $327.43 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $304.34. Kadant Inc has a twelve month low of $244.87 and a twelve month high of $369.97.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $2.80 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.19 by $0.61. The firm had revenue of $286.20 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $274.43 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 9.69%.The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.25 earnings per share. Kadant has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.780-1.880 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.750 EPS. Research analysts expect that Kadant Inc will post 9.97 EPS for the current year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be given a dividend of $0.36 per share. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. This is a positive change from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio is 15.72%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KAI has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research report on Tuesday, February 24th. DA Davidson set a $303.00 target price on Kadant in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kadant in a report on Monday, December 29th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $341.50.

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.