Barrington Research Reaffirms “Outperform” Rating for Kadant (NYSE:KAI)

Barrington Research reaffirmed their outperform rating on shares of Kadant (NYSE:KAI) in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $360.00 target price on the industrial products company’s stock. Barrington Research also issued estimates for Kadant’s Q4 2024 earnings at $2.00 EPS, Q1 2025 earnings at $2.47 EPS, Q2 2025 earnings at $3.06 EPS, Q4 2025 earnings at $2.20 EPS, Q1 2026 earnings at $2.70 EPS, Q2 2026 earnings at $3.33 EPS, Q3 2026 earnings at $3.37 EPS and FY2026 earnings at $11.83 EPS.

Separately, DA Davidson upped their price objective on shares of Kadant from $290.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, August 1st.

Kadant Stock Up 3.1 %

Shares of KAI opened at $343.38 on Wednesday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $323.77 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $305.86. Kadant has a 12 month low of $231.83 and a 12 month high of $363.40. The company has a market capitalization of $4.03 billion, a PE ratio of 35.15 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 2.25, a quick ratio of 1.40 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.84 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.43 by $0.41. The company had revenue of $271.61 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $266.38 million. Kadant had a net margin of 11.12% and a return on equity of 15.41%. Kadant’s revenue for the quarter was up 11.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $2.69 earnings per share. On average, analysts anticipate that Kadant will post 9.99 EPS for the current year.

Kadant Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 7th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 10th will be paid a $0.32 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 10th. This represents a $1.28 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.37%. Kadant’s payout ratio is 13.10%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kadant

In other news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 2,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $337.40, for a total value of $674,800.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 4,250 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,433,950. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KAI. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kadant during the second quarter worth about $29,000. Park Place Capital Corp grew its stake in Kadant by 68.6% in the 3rd quarter. Park Place Capital Corp now owns 204 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $69,000 after buying an additional 83 shares in the last quarter. Whittier Trust Co. of Nevada Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kadant in the 3rd quarter worth $74,000. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. raised its position in shares of Kadant by 226.2% during the 2nd quarter. Benjamin F. Edwards & Company Inc. now owns 274 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 190 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Covestor Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Kadant by 31,600.0% during the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 317 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $104,000 after acquiring an additional 316 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.13% of the company’s stock.

About Kadant

Kadant Inc supplies technologies and engineered systems worldwide. It operates in three segments: Flow Control, Industrial Processing, and Material Handling. The Flow Control segment develops, manufactures, and markets fluid-handling systems and equipment, such as rotary joints, syphons, turbulator bars, expansion joints, and engineered steam and condensate systems; and doctoring, cleaning, and filtration systems and related consumables consisting of doctor systems and holders, doctor blades, cleaning shower and fabric-conditioning systems, forming systems and wear surfaces, and water-filtration systems.