Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund Purchases Shares of 9,427 Kadant Inc $KAI

Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund acquired a new position in shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 9,427 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,756,000.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Kadant by 11.2% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,763 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $931,000 after purchasing an additional 279 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its stake in Kadant by 8.6% in the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 907 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $306,000 after purchasing an additional 72 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its stake in Kadant by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 6,985 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,353,000 after purchasing an additional 311 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association acquired a new position in Kadant in the 1st quarter valued at $255,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in Kadant by 1.4% in the 1st quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 30,974 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $10,435,000 after buying an additional 441 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Trading Down 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:KAI opened at $306.97 on Friday. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $306.38 and its 200 day simple moving average is $315.72. Kadant Inc has a 1 year low of $244.87 and a 1 year high of $357.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 2.47 and a quick ratio of 1.53. The company has a market capitalization of $3.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 35.00 and a beta of 1.20.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.73. The firm 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 company’s quarterly revenue was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous 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, research analysts anticipate that Kadant Inc will post 12.42 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Thursday, May 21st that permits the company to repurchase $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to purchase up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 16th will be paid a $0.36 dividend. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 16th. Kadant’s payout ratio is 16.42%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 1,227 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 27th. The shares were 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 owned 1,363 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $455,473.71. This represents a 47.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.30% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Weiss Ratings raised Kadant from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kadant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, May 9th. Barrington Research restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a research note on Monday, May 4th. 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 equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus 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.