Kadant Inc $KAI Shares Sold by Maryland State Retirement & Pension System

Maryland State Retirement & Pension System trimmed its holdings in shares of Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI) by 51.1% in the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,693 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,768 shares during the period. Maryland State Retirement & Pension System’s holdings in Kadant were worth $504,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KAI. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Kadant during the 2nd quarter worth about $40,019,000. Champlain Investment Partners LLC increased its stake in 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 purchasing an additional 87,832 shares during the last quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP raised its holdings in Kadant by 3.6% during the second quarter. Wasatch Advisors LP now owns 984,193 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $312,432,000 after purchasing an additional 34,561 shares in the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE lifted its position in shares of Kadant by 23.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 147,463 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $46,812,000 after buying an additional 28,380 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kadant by 90.2% in the 2nd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 59,244 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $19,266,000 after buying an additional 28,099 shares in the last quarter. 96.13% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, Director Rebecca Martinez O’mara sold 699 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $266.91, for a total transaction of $186,570.09. Following the completion of the sale, the director owned 1,141 shares in the company, valued at $304,544.31. This represents a 37.99% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Erin L. Russell sold 1,435 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 25th. The stock was sold at an average price of $282.36, for a total value of $405,186.60. Following the sale, the director directly owned 3,066 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $865,715.76. This represents a 31.88% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently commented on KAI. Barrington Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $380.00 price target on shares of Kadant in a research note on Monday, October 27th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kadant in a research report on Monday, December 29th. One analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $340.00.

Kadant Stock Up 0.7%

KAI stock opened at $329.23 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $3.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 38.06 and a beta of 1.25. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $291.17 and a 200 day moving average price of $305.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 2.45 and a quick ratio of 1.60. Kadant Inc has a 12 month low of $244.87 and a 12 month high of $409.73.

Kadant (NYSE:KAI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, October 28th. The industrial products company reported $2.59 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.18 by $0.41. Kadant had a net margin of 9.96% and a return on equity of 11.97%. The company had revenue of $271.57 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $260.17 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $2.84 earnings per share. Kadant’s quarterly revenue was up .0% on a year-over-year basis. Kadant has set its Q4 2025 guidance at 2.050-2.250 EPS and its FY 2025 guidance at 9.050-9.250 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Kadant Inc will post 9.97 earnings per share for the current year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, February 5th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, January 8th will be paid a dividend of $0.34 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, January 8th. This represents a $1.36 annualized dividend and a yield of 0.4%. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio is currently 15.72%.

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.