Royce & Associates LP Grows Stock Position in Kadant Inc $KAI

Royce & Associates LP increased its holdings in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 12.8% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 156,651 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 17,747 shares during the quarter. Royce & Associates LP’s holdings in Kadant were worth $46,616,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Kestra Investment Management LLC bought a new position in Kadant in the second quarter worth approximately $27,000. BNP PARIBAS ASSET MANAGEMENT Holding S.A. bought a new stake in shares of Kadant during the 2nd quarter valued at $31,000. First Horizon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Kadant in the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Root Financial Partners LLC bought a new stake in Kadant during the third quarter valued at about $35,000. Finally, Huntington National Bank increased its holdings in Kadant by 148.0% in the 2nd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 124 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,000 after acquiring an additional 74 shares in the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kadant Price Performance

Shares of KAI stock opened at $338.93 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $318.80 and a 200 day moving average price of $304.97. Kadant Inc has a 52-week low of $244.87 and a 52-week high of $381.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38, a quick ratio of 5.22 and a current ratio of 8.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.99 billion, a P/E ratio of 39.18 and a beta of 1.25.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 18th. The industrial products company reported $2.27 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.19 by $0.08. Kadant had a return on equity of 11.57% and a net margin of 9.69%.The firm had revenue of $286.20 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $274.43 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.25 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 10.9% on a year-over-year basis. Kadant has set its Q1 2026 guidance at 1.780-1.880 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 10.500-10.750 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Kadant Inc will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

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