Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) Downgraded to Hold Rating by StockNews.com

StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research report released on Thursday morning.

Several other analysts have also issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their target price for the company from $40.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Kennametal from $24.50 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Kennametal from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays reduced their price objective on Kennametal from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. Finally, Bank of America cut shares of Kennametal from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kennametal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.67.

Kennametal Stock Performance

NYSE KMT opened at $24.35 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.02, a PEG ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.67. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $26.84 and a 200 day moving average of $25.58. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Kennametal has a twelve month low of $22.50 and a twelve month high of $32.18.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.03. Kennametal had a return on equity of 8.35% and a net margin of 4.98%. The business had revenue of $481.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $485.26 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Kennametal will post 1.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kennametal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. Kennametal’s payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

Insider Transactions at Kennametal

In related news, VP John Wayne Witt sold 1,765 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.35, for a total value of $51,802.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,192.70. This represents a 51.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Franklin Cardenas sold 20,470 shares of Kennametal stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.24, for a total value of $578,072.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 39,581 shares in the company, valued at $1,117,767.44. This represents a 34.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kennametal

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Kennametal by 33.5% in the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,251,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $162,105,000 after buying an additional 1,567,867 shares during the last quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Kennametal by 1.4% in the 2nd quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 4,977,697 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $117,175,000 after acquiring an additional 67,327 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 2.2% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,683,485 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $110,248,000 after acquiring an additional 100,905 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Kennametal by 35.1% during the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 2,332,993 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $54,798,000 after purchasing an additional 606,477 shares during the period. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC increased its holdings in Kennametal by 1.0% in the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 2,051,503 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $48,292,000 after purchasing an additional 20,634 shares during the last quarter.

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.