Riverbridge Partners LLC Decreases Holdings in Kadant Inc $KAI

Riverbridge Partners LLC lowered its position in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 11.4% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 175,864 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 22,519 shares during the quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC owned approximately 1.49% of Kadant worth $50,125,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the business. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Kadant by 1,300.0% in the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 84 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in shares of Kadant during the 2nd quarter valued at $27,000. First Horizon Corp bought a new position in shares of Kadant during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Allworth Financial LP raised its position in Kadant by 89.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 104 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares during the period. Finally, Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Kadant in the third quarter worth $35,000. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kadant Trading Down 5.1%

Shares of KAI opened at $299.38 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.53 billion, a P/E ratio of 34.61 and a beta of 1.22. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $326.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $303.40. Kadant Inc has a twelve month low of $244.87 and a twelve month high of $369.97.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released 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 net margin of 9.69% and a return on equity of 11.57%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 10.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company 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. On average, research analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc will post 9.97 EPS for the current year.

Kadant Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 13th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, April 15th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. This is a boost from Kadant’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.34. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 16.65%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on KAI. Barrington Research reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research note 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 restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kadant in a report on Monday, December 29th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus 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.