Kadant (NYSE:KAI) Shares Down 4.4% – What’s Next?

11 Sep 2026, 13:01 by Teresa Graham · The Cerbat Gem

Kadant Inc (NYSE:KAI – Get Free Report) shares traded down 4.4% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as low as $272.05 and last traded at $273.5250. 47,933 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 69% from the average daily volume of 152,629 shares. The stock had previously closed at $286.23.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Check Out Our Latest Stock Analysis on KAI

Kadant Stock Down 4.0%

The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $310.38 and a 200 day simple moving average of $312.96. The firm has a market cap of $3.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.54 and a beta of 1.17. 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 – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, August 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.42 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.94 by $0.48. Kadant had a return on equity of 13.16% and a net margin of 9.52%.The firm had revenue of $312.88 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $299.17 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $2.31 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 22.6% on a year-over-year basis. Kadant has set its FY 2026 guidance at 12.430-12.680 EPS and its Q3 2026 guidance at 2.900-3.000 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Kadant Inc will post 12.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kadant Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, November 12th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 15th will be issued a dividend of $0.36 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, October 15th. This represents a $1.44 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 0.5%. Kadant’s dividend payout ratio is presently 15.48%.

Kadant announced that its board has initiated a share buyback program on Thursday, May 21st that allows the company to buyback $50.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to reacquire up to 1.4% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kadant

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd boosted its position in Kadant by 1,300.0% during the third quarter. Caitong International Asset Management Co. Ltd now owns 84 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 78 shares during the last quarter. Kestra Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kadant in the 2nd quarter valued at about $27,000. Kestra Advisory Services LLC acquired a new stake in Kadant in the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Allworth Financial LP lifted its stake in Kadant by 89.1% in the 3rd quarter. Allworth Financial LP now owns 104 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 49 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Quantbot Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Kadant during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $33,000. 96.13% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Kadant

(Get Free Report)

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.