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

Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 0.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 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 quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC owned about 2.67% of Kadant worth $89,651,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted its position in shares of Kadant by 141.3% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 99,703 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $29,670,000 after buying an additional 58,382 shares during the period. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL bought a new position in shares of Kadant during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,500,000. Zhang Financial LLC bought a new position in shares of Kadant during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $1,515,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA lifted its position in shares of Kadant by 16.5% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 43,246 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $12,326,000 after buying an additional 6,123 shares during the period. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kadant during the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,144,000. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Stock Down 0.2%

NYSE KAI opened at $292.75 on Monday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $314.26 and a 200-day moving average of $311.01. The stock has a market capitalization 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. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a current ratio of 2.47.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.73. The company had revenue of $281.51 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $274.95 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 12.13% and a net margin of 9.45%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.9% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $2.10 EPS. Kadant has set its Q2 2026 guidance at 2.880-2.980 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 12.330-12.680 EPS. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Kadant Inc will post 12.42 EPS for the current year.

Kadant announced that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase 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 repurchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 16th will be paid a dividend of $0.36 per share. 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 16.42%.

Insider Activity at Kadant

In related news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 1,227 shares of Kadant stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $334.17, for a total transaction 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 $455,473.71. The trade was a 47.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities analysts recently commented on the company. Weiss Ratings upgraded Kadant from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Zacks Research downgraded Kadant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a research report on Monday, May 4th. DA Davidson set a $303.00 target price on Kadant in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded Kadant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 9th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $341.50.

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.