Kadant Inc. (KAI) Key Metrics
KAI valuation today
Trailing 12 months · as of October 18, 2026- Market cap
- $3.12B
- Enterprise value
- $3.52B
- P/E (TTM)
- 28.4 10-yr median 28.9
- Forward P/E
- 20.2
- PEG ratio
- 3.23
- Price / sales
- 2.7 10-yr median 2.4
- Price / book
- 3.2 10-yr median 3.4
- EV / EBITDA
- 15.2 10-yr median 15.3
- Dividend yield
- 0.55% $1.44 a year
- Beta
- 1.20
KAI key metrics, 2016–2025
Fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 · U.S. dollarsKAI valuation Price multiples at each fiscal year-end price.
KAI returns How much profit the business earns on the capital it uses.
KAI per-share figures Results divided by the shares outstanding at year-end.
KAI financial health Debt, liquidity and how easily interest is covered.
KAI efficiency & capital use Working capital cycle and where the cash goes.
KAI valuation history
KAI returns on capital
Net income (ROE, ROA) or after-tax operating income (ROIC) divided by the average of the opening and closing balance.
KAI debt vs cash
Debt includes short- and long-term borrowings and, where reported, lease liabilities.
KAI cash returned to shareholders
KAI price vs earnings per share
KAI key metrics
2016–2025| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | 2020 | 2019 | 2018 | 2017 | 2016 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Valuation | ||||||||||
| Market capitalization | $3.36B | $4.06B | $3.29B | $2.08B | $2.69B | $1.63B | $1.21B | $928.6M | $1.14B | $682.3M |
| Enterprise value | $3.61B | $4.29B | $3.32B | $2.22B | $2.86B | $1.82B | $1.47B | $1.06B | $1.30B | $675.2M |
| P/E ratio | 33.0 | 36.4 | 28.3 | 17.2 | 32.0 | 29.5 | 23.2 | 15.4 | 36.5 | 21.3 |
| Price / sales | 3.2 | 3.9 | 3.4 | 2.3 | 3.4 | 2.6 | 1.7 | 1.5 | 2.2 | 1.6 |
| Price / book | 3.4 | 4.8 | 4.2 | 3.2 | 4.7 | 3.3 | 2.8 | 2.5 | 3.4 | 2.4 |
| Price / free cash flow | 21.8 | 30.2 | 24.6 | 27.9 | 18.0 | 19.1 | 13.8 | 20.0 | 23.7 | 15.1 |
| Price / operating cash flow | 19.6 | 26.2 | 19.9 | 20.2 | 16.5 | 17.6 | 12.4 | 14.7 | 17.4 | 13.4 |
| EV / sales | 3.4 | 4.1 | 3.5 | 2.5 | 3.6 | 2.9 | 2.1 | 1.7 | 2.5 | 1.6 |
| EV / EBITDA | 17.2 | 19.3 | 16.5 | 10.7 | 18.9 | 16.3 | 12.9 | 9.0 | 14.3 | 11.0 |
| EV / free cash flow | 23.4 | 31.9 | 24.8 | 29.8 | 19.1 | 21.4 | 16.8 | 22.8 | 27.2 | 14.9 |
| Earnings yield | 3.0% | 2.7% | 3.5% | 5.8% | 3.1% | 3.4% | 4.3% | 6.5% | 2.7% | 4.7% |
| Free cash flow yield | 4.6% | 3.3% | 4.1% | 3.6% | 5.6% | 5.2% | 7.2% | 5.0% | 4.2% | 6.6% |
| Dividend yield | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.4% | 0.6% | 0.4% | 0.7% | 0.8% | 1.0% | 0.8% | 1.2% |
| Shareholder yield (dividends + buybacks) | 0.5% | 0.4% | 0.5% | 0.6% | 0.4% | 0.7% | 0.8% | 1.5% | 1.0% | 1.2% |
| Share price at fiscal year-end | $285.02 | $344.99 | $280.31 | $177.63 | $230.48 | $140.98 | $105.34 | $81.46 | $100.40 | $61.20 |
| Per share | ||||||||||
| Revenue per share | $89.22 | $89.49 | $81.65 | $77.41 | $67.49 | $54.91 | $61.50 | $55.60 | $45.53 | $37.14 |
| Earnings per share | $8.65 | $9.48 | $9.90 | $10.35 | $7.21 | $4.77 | $4.54 | $5.30 | $2.75 | $2.88 |
| Operating cash flow per share | $14.53 | $13.19 | $14.11 | $8.78 | $13.94 | $8.03 | $8.50 | $5.53 | $5.76 | $4.57 |
| Free cash flow per share | $13.08 | $11.41 | $11.40 | $6.37 | $12.84 | $7.38 | $7.63 | $4.07 | $4.23 | $4.05 |
| Cash per share | $10.40 | $8.04 | $9.08 | $6.82 | $8.08 | $5.76 | $5.96 | $4.05 | $6.79 | $6.60 |
| Book value per share | $83.08 | $71.97 | $65.96 | $55.94 | $48.53 | $42.84 | $37.16 | $32.86 | $29.39 | $25.50 |
| Tangible book value per share | $6.26 | $7.52 | $18.96 | $7.94 | −$2.63 | −$1.50 | −$7.35 | $0.27 | −$6.06 | $7.18 |
| Dividends per share | $1.34 | $1.25 | $1.13 | $1.03 | $0.98 | $0.94 | $0.89 | $0.85 | $0.80 | $0.72 |
| Capex per share | $1.45 | $1.78 | $2.72 | $2.41 | $1.10 | $0.66 | $0.87 | $1.45 | $1.53 | $0.52 |
| Debt per share | $31.75 | $27.43 | $11.56 | $19.12 | $23.16 | $22.49 | $28.77 | $15.42 | $21.40 | $5.96 |
| Shares outstanding | 11.8M | 11.8M | 11.7M | 11.7M | 11.7M | 11.6M | 11.5M | 11.4M | 11.3M | 11.1M |
| Change in shares outstanding | +0.2% | +0.4% | +0.4% | +0.3% | +0.8% | +0.9% | +0.5% | +0.8% | +1.5% | +0.5% |
| Returns & profitability | ||||||||||
| Return on equity (ROE) | 11.2% | 13.8% | 16.3% | 19.8% | 15.8% | 12.0% | 13.0% | 17.1% | 10.1% | 11.6% |
| Return on invested capital (ROIC) | 9.8% | 13.4% | 15.2% | 16.4% | 12.4% | 8.9% | 11.2% | 13.6% | 8.6% | 13.0% |
| Return on assets (ROA) | 6.5% | 8.6% | 10.0% | 10.6% | 8.2% | 5.9% | 6.3% | 8.1% | 5.0% | 7.2% |
| Return on tangible assets | 12.6% | 16.6% | 18.6% | 20.5% | 15.7% | 13.3% | 12.1% | 17.1% | 8.6% | 12.0% |
| Free cash flow margin | 14.7% | 12.7% | 14.0% | 8.2% | 19.0% | 13.4% | 12.4% | 7.3% | 9.3% | 10.9% |
| Income quality (OCF / net income) | 1.68 | 1.39 | 1.43 | 0.85 | 1.93 | 1.68 | 1.87 | 1.04 | 2.10 | 1.59 |
| Financial health | ||||||||||
| Total debt | $374.5M | $322.8M | $135.6M | $223.4M | $270.0M | $260.1M | $329.6M | $175.8M | $242.1M | $66.4M |
| Cash & short-term investments | $122.7M | $94.7M | $106.5M | $79.7M | $94.2M | $66.6M | $68.3M | $46.1M | $76.8M | $73.6M |
| Net debt | $251.8M | $228.2M | $29.2M | $143.7M | $175.8M | $193.4M | $261.3M | $129.7M | $165.2M | −$7.2M |
| Debt / equity | 0.38 | 0.38 | 0.18 | 0.34 | 0.48 | 0.53 | 0.77 | 0.47 | 0.73 | 0.23 |
| Debt / assets | 0.22 | 0.23 | 0.12 | 0.19 | 0.24 | 0.28 | 0.35 | 0.24 | 0.32 | 0.14 |
| Net debt / EBITDA | 1.20 | 1.02 | 0.15 | 0.69 | 1.16 | 1.73 | 2.29 | 1.10 | 1.82 | −0.12 |
| Current ratio | 2.14 | 2.31 | 2.05 | 1.95 | 5.98 | 2.15 | 2.04 | 6.74 | 7.50 | 8.67 |
| Quick ratio | 1.23 | 1.55 | 1.34 | 1.18 | 3.71 | 1.36 | 1.33 | 4.32 | 5.11 | 6.37 |
| Interest coverage | 10.1 | 8.6 | 19.7 | 26.4 | 24.2 | 10.9 | 6.9 | 12.6 | 17.1 | 35.2 |
| Working capital | $259.9M | $250.8M | $225.8M | $201.9M | $295.1M | $155.1M | $151.4M | $205.1M | $230.6M | $183.4M |
| Invested capital | $1.23B | $1.08B | $802.9M | $797.6M | $741.4M | $688.8M | $687.0M | $504.3M | $497.7M | $277.1M |
| Tangible asset value | $85.1M | $99.5M | $224.9M | $94.5M | −$30.6M | −$15.8M | −$82.8M | $3.0M | −$68.5M | $80.1M |
| Net current asset value | −$233.0M | −$129.9M | $40.8M | −$78.9M | −$212.2M | −$140.8M | −$214.7M | −$110.3M | −$162.6M | $20.9M |
| Graham number | $127.13 | $123.90 | $121.19 | $114.12 | $88.73 | $67.83 | $61.64 | $62.59 | $42.64 | $40.63 |
| Graham net-net per share | −$31.47 | −$24.12 | −$9.37 | −$19.15 | −$26.67 | −$20.43 | −$27.15 | −$15.84 | −$21.24 | −$3.01 |
| Capital allocation | ||||||||||
| Dividends paid | $15.8M | $14.7M | $13.2M | $12.0M | $11.5M | $10.9M | $10.2M | $9.6M | $9.0M | $8.0M |
| Share buybacks (net) | $0 | $0 | $3.9M | $0 | $0 | $0 | $0 | $3.9M | $2.2M | $0 |
| Dividend payout ratio | 15.5% | 13.1% | 11.4% | 9.9% | 13.6% | 19.8% | 19.6% | 16.0% | 29.0% | 25.1% |
| Dividends + buybacks / free cash flow | 10.2% | 10.9% | 12.8% | 16.1% | 7.7% | 12.8% | 11.7% | 29.1% | 23.4% | 17.8% |
| Capex / revenue | 1.6% | 2.0% | 3.3% | 3.1% | 1.6% | 1.2% | 1.4% | 2.6% | 3.4% | 1.4% |
| Capex / operating cash flow | 10.0% | 13.5% | 19.2% | 27.5% | 7.9% | 8.2% | 10.2% | 26.3% | 26.5% | 11.4% |
| Capex / depreciation | 0.33 | 0.42 | 0.96 | 0.81 | 0.37 | 0.24 | 0.31 | 0.70 | 0.89 | 0.41 |
| Stock-based compensation / revenue | 1.1% | 1.0% | 1.0% | 0.9% | 1.1% | 1.1% | 1.0% | 1.1% | 1.1% | 1.2% |
| R&D / revenue | 1.5% | 1.4% | 1.4% | 1.4% | 1.4% | 1.8% | 1.5% | 1.7% | 1.9% | 1.8% |
| SG&A / revenue | 28.7% | 26.6% | 24.7% | 24.8% | 26.5% | 28.6% | 27.2% | 27.8% | 30.0% | 32.8% |
| Efficiency | ||||||||||
| Days sales outstanding | 56.5 | 52.5 | 54.8 | 54.7 | 52.2 | 59.8 | 56.3 | 57.7 | 57.1 | 61.7 |
| Days of inventory on hand | 111.7 | 92.9 | 106.6 | 105.6 | 98.0 | 106.9 | 84.0 | 87.9 | 89.9 | 90.3 |
| Days payables outstanding | 33.1 | 29.0 | 33.8 | 41.6 | 37.2 | 39.9 | 36.2 | 36.5 | 38.2 | 39.1 |
| Cash conversion cycle (days) | 135.2 | 116.4 | 127.7 | 118.7 | 113.0 | 126.8 | 104.0 | 109.1 | 108.8 | 112.9 |
| Receivables turnover | 6.45 | 6.95 | 6.66 | 6.68 | 6.99 | 6.11 | 6.49 | 6.33 | 6.40 | 5.92 |
| Payables turnover | 11.04 | 12.61 | 10.81 | 8.78 | 9.82 | 9.16 | 10.07 | 9.99 | 9.56 | 9.34 |
| Inventory turnover | 3.27 | 3.93 | 3.42 | 3.46 | 3.73 | 3.41 | 4.35 | 4.15 | 4.06 | 4.04 |
| Asset turnover | 0.67 | 0.81 | 0.82 | 0.79 | 0.76 | 0.68 | 0.85 | 0.85 | 0.84 | 0.93 |
| Average receivables | $163.0M | $151.6M | $143.7M | $135.5M | $112.5M | $104.0M | $108.6M | $100.2M | $80.5M | $70.0M |
| Average payables | $52.2M | $46.6M | $50.1M | $58.7M | $45.8M | $39.1M | $40.8M | $35.6M | $29.7M | $24.2M |
| Average inventory | $176.5M | $149.4M | $158.2M | $149.0M | $120.6M | $104.8M | $94.5M | $85.7M | $69.9M | $55.9M |
| Intangibles / total assets | 52.9% | 53.0% | 46.9% | 48.8% | 52.7% | 55.3% | 54.3% | 51.2% | 52.7% | 43.4% |
Computed from KAI's annual financial statements (latest annual report filed March 3, 2026) and the closing share price on each fiscal year-end, adjusted for stock splits. Figures in U.S. dollars; data from EODHD. Averages use the opening and closing balance of each year.
KAI valuation and financial ratios
At the end of fiscal 2025 (December 31, 2025), Kadant traded at 33.0 times earnings, against a 10-year median of 28.9. Based on the latest twelve months, the trailing P/E is 28.4 and the forward P/E is 20.2. Kadant earned a return on equity of 11.2% and a return on invested capital of 9.8% in fiscal 2025. It ended the year with $374.5 million of debt and $122.7 million in cash and short-term investments, net debt of $251.8 million. It returned $15.8 million to shareholders: $15.8 million in dividends and $0 in share buybacks, 10% of free cash flow. The share count rose 5.8% from 11.1M to 11.8M over 9 years.
See the KAI income statement, the KAI chart for price history, or the KAI stock overview for the latest quote and news.
KAI key metrics FAQ
What is Kadant's P/E ratio?
Kadant's trailing P/E ratio is 28.4 based on the last twelve months of earnings (as of October 18, 2026), and its forward P/E is 20.2. At the end of fiscal 2025 it was 33.0, compared with a 10-year median of 28.9.
What is Kadant's EV/EBITDA?
Kadant's enterprise value was 17.2 times EBITDA at the end of fiscal 2025 (enterprise value $3.6 billion, EBITDA $210.4 million); the current EV/EBITDA is 15.2.
What is Kadant's return on equity?
Kadant's return on equity (ROE) was 11.2% in fiscal 2025: net income of $102.0 million on average shareholders' equity of $913.5 million.
What is Kadant's ROIC?
Kadant's return on invested capital was 9.8% in fiscal 2025, using after-tax operating income divided by average debt plus equity minus cash.
How much debt does Kadant have?
Kadant had total debt of $374.5 million at the end of fiscal 2025, a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.38 and $251.8 million of net debt (1.20 times EBITDA).
What is Kadant's dividend yield?
Kadant's forward dividend yield is 0.55%. Kadant paid $15.8 million in dividends in fiscal 2025 ($1.34 per share), a payout ratio of 15.5%.
What is Kadant's free cash flow yield?
Kadant generated $154.3 million of free cash flow in fiscal 2025, a free cash flow yield of 4.6% on its market value at year-end ($3.4 billion).
What is Kadant's current ratio?
Kadant's current ratio was 2.14 at the end of fiscal 2025: current assets were 2.14 times current liabilities.