The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company Acquires Shares of 5,618 Kadant Inc $KAI

The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company bought a new position in shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) during the 2nd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 5,618 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,765,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the business. CWM LLC boosted its position in Kadant by 102.3% during the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 87 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 44 shares in the last quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd raised its stake in shares of Kadant by 1,300.0% during the 3rd quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 84 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,000 after buying an additional 78 shares during the period. Kestra Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kadant during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Kadant in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. Finally, Danske Bank A S purchased a new stake in Kadant in the 4th quarter worth $29,000. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several analysts have recently issued reports on KAI shares. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Kadant from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Monday, August 17th. DA Davidson lifted their price objective on Kadant from $306.00 to $335.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 6th. Wall Street Zen cut Kadant from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 15th. Finally, Zacks Research lowered Kadant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $357.50.

Kadant Trading Up 1.1%

KAI opened at $298.25 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.07 and a beta of 1.17. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $312.30 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $314.24. Kadant Inc has a 1-year low of $244.87 and a 1-year high of $354.07. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 2.59 and a quick ratio of 1.63.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.42 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.94 by $0.48. The firm had revenue of $312.88 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $299.17 million. Kadant had a return on equity of 13.16% and a net margin of 9.52%.The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $2.31 earnings per share. 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 expect that Kadant Inc will post 12.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant announced that its board has initiated a stock buyback program on Thursday, May 21st that permits the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to purchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are typically an indication that the company’s management believes its shares are undervalued.

Kadant 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.