California State Teachers Retirement System Raises Holdings in Kadant Inc $KAI

California State Teachers Retirement System boosted its position in Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 23.9% during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 14,133 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,727 shares during the quarter. California State Teachers Retirement System’s holdings in Kadant were worth $4,132,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. M&T Bank Corp increased its position in Kadant by 76,036.6% during the 4th quarter. M&T Bank Corp now owns 738,525 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $210,494,000 after purchasing an additional 737,555 shares in the last quarter. Capital World Investors increased its position in shares of Kadant by 56.5% in the fourth quarter. Capital World Investors now owns 494,773 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $141,020,000 after acquiring an additional 178,563 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Kadant in the 4th quarter valued at $42,985,000. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Kadant by 13.7% in the 1st quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 1,038,548 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $303,619,000 after acquiring an additional 125,342 shares during the period. Finally, Riverbridge Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kadant by 43.4% during the 1st quarter. Riverbridge Partners LLC now owns 252,230 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $73,739,000 after acquiring an additional 76,366 shares in the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kadant Stock Performance

Shares of KAI opened at $336.89 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.22 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a quick ratio of 1.53, a current ratio of 9.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49. The business’s 50 day moving average is $307.25 and its two-hundred day moving average is $316.27. Kadant Inc has a 52-week low of $244.87 and a 52-week high of $357.65.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.42 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.48. The company had revenue of $312.88 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $299.17 million. Kadant had a net margin of 9.52% and a return on equity of 13.16%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business earned $2.31 EPS. Kadant has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.430-12.680 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.900-3.000 EPS. Analysts forecast that Kadant Inc will post 12.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant declared that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 21st that allows the company to repurchase $50.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 13th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 16th will be given a $0.36 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 16th. This represents a $1.44 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 0.4%. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 15.48%.

Insider Activity at Kadant

In other news, SVP Stacy D. Krause sold 1,227 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $334.17, for a total value of $410,026.59. Following the completion of the sale, the senior vice president directly owned 1,363 shares in the company, valued at approximately $455,473.71. The trade was a 47.37% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.30% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently issued reports on KAI shares. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a research note on Monday, May 4th. Zacks Research lowered Kadant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. DA Davidson upped their price target on Kadant from $306.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Kadant from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “hold (c)” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kadant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note 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 data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $357.50.

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.