ProShare Advisors LLC Boosts Stock Position in Kadant Inc $KAI

ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 7.6% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 22,853 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,616 shares during the quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC owned 0.19% of Kadant worth $6,514,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of KAI. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kadant by 11.2% during the 1st quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,763 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $931,000 after acquiring an additional 279 shares during the period. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC boosted its holdings in Kadant by 8.6% during the 1st quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC now owns 907 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $306,000 after acquiring an additional 72 shares during the period. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. boosted its holdings in Kadant by 4.7% during 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 acquiring an additional 311 shares during the period. United Services Automobile Association purchased a new position in Kadant during the 1st quarter valued at $255,000. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC boosted its holdings in Kadant by 1.4% during 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 acquiring an additional 441 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

Kadant Price Performance

Shares of KAI stock opened at $319.44 on Friday. Kadant Inc has a twelve month low of $244.87 and a twelve month high of $369.97. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 36.42 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $312.25 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $307.10. The company has a current ratio of 2.47, a quick ratio of 1.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.36.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last issued its earnings results on Tuesday, May 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.11 by $0.73. The business 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 business’s revenue for the quarter was up 17.9% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business 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, analysts predict that Kadant Inc will post 12.5 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

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

Kadant announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Thursday, May 21st that authorizes the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to repurchase up to 1.4% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are generally a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KAI has been the subject of several research reports. Weiss Ratings upgraded Kadant from a “hold (c)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Thursday, May 14th. Zacks Research cut Kadant from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday. Wall Street Zen upgraded Kadant from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, May 9th. DA Davidson set a $303.00 target price on Kadant in a report on Friday, February 20th. Finally, Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 target price on shares of Kadant in a report on Monday, May 4th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kadant currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price 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.