Kadant (NYSE:KAI) Sets New 52-Week Low – Here’s Why

Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI)’s share price hit a new 52-week low during trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $279.47 and last traded at $278.41, with a volume of 63488 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $286.33.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KAI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Kadant in a research note on Wednesday. Barrington Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $380.00 price objective on shares of Kadant in a research note on Friday. DA Davidson raised their price objective on Kadant from $275.00 to $300.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, August 4th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised Kadant from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, July 5th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $340.00.

Kadant Stock Down 5.1%

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.38 and a quick ratio of 1.53. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $318.08 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $318.57. The company has a market cap of $3.20 billion, a P/E ratio of 30.25 and a beta of 1.22.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last posted its earnings results on Tuesday, July 29th. The industrial products company reported $2.31 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.94 by $0.37. Kadant had a return on equity of 12.62% and a net margin of 10.34%.The company had revenue of $255.27 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $245.99 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $2.81 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 7.3% on a year-over-year basis. Kadant has set its Q3 2025 guidance at 2.130-2.230 EPS. FY 2025 guidance at 9.050-9.250 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Kadant Inc will post 9.97 EPS for the current year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 6th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 9th will be issued a dividend of $0.34 per share. This represents a $1.36 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 0.5%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 9th. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 15.14%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Thomas C. Leonard sold 415 shares of Kadant stock in a transaction on Wednesday, August 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $338.41, for a total transaction of $140,440.15. Following the sale, the director directly owned 4,250 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,438,242.50. This trade represents a 8.90% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kadant

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kadant by 9.4% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 1,332,583 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $448,961,000 after buying an additional 114,310 shares during the period. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its stake in shares of Kadant by 3.6% in the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 984,193 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $312,432,000 after buying an additional 34,561 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Kadant by 1.5% in the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 279,013 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $88,583,000 after buying an additional 4,162 shares during the period. Champlain Investment Partners LLC raised its stake in shares of Kadant by 54.6% in the second quarter. Champlain Investment Partners LLC now owns 248,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $78,928,000 after buying an additional 87,832 shares during the period. Finally, Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Kadant by 0.4% in the second quarter. Conestoga Capital Advisors LLC now owns 222,051 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $70,490,000 after buying an additional 842 shares during the period. 96.13% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kadant Company Profile

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.