Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) Receives Average Rating of “Reduce” from Brokerages

Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) has earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12 month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $26.60.

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on KMT shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley decreased their target price on Kennametal from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com upgraded Kennametal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays set a $25.00 price objective on Kennametal and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kennametal

In other news, CEO Sanjay Chowbey acquired 10,000 shares of Kennametal stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $21.75 per share, for a total transaction of $217,500.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 77,595 shares in the company, valued at $1,687,691.25. This trade represents a 14.79 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.41% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kennametal

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KMT. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its holdings in Kennametal by 20.6% in the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 14,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $367,000 after acquiring an additional 2,415 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 2,429.9% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 46,929 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,217,000 after purchasing an additional 45,074 shares in the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kennametal in the third quarter worth $555,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kennametal by 5.0% in the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,423,495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,911,000 after purchasing an additional 67,392 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in shares of Kennametal during the third quarter valued at $804,000.

Kennametal Price Performance

KMT opened at $22.21 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 2.53. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.72 billion, a PE ratio of 18.20, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.69. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $22.61 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.90. Kennametal has a 52-week low of $20.50 and a 52-week high of $32.18.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.02). Kennametal had a net margin of 4.76% and a return on equity of 8.12%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Kennametal will post 1.17 EPS for the current year.

Kennametal Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.60%. Kennametal’s payout ratio is currently 65.57%.

Kennametal Company Profile

Kennametal Inc engages in development and application of tungsten carbides, ceramics, and super-hard materials and solutions for use in metal cutting and extreme wear applications to enable customers work against corrosion and high temperatures conditions worldwide. The company operates through two segments, Metal Cutting and Infrastructure.