Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) Given Average Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) has been assigned a consensus rating of “Reduce” from the six research firms that are currently covering the company, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $26.83.

Several brokerages have weighed in on KMT. Bank of America downgraded Kennametal from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Kennametal from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Kennametal from $24.50 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Kennametal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 1st.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kennametal

Hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Kennametal by 1.6% during the 2nd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 3,298,229 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $77,640,000 after purchasing an additional 50,622 shares in the last quarter. Savant Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kennametal in the 2nd quarter worth $456,000. Quest Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kennametal in the second quarter worth $44,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 20.3% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,903,714 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $44,813,000 after purchasing an additional 321,876 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Kennametal by 2.2% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,683,485 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $110,248,000 after buying an additional 100,905 shares during the last quarter.

Kennametal Price Performance

Shares of Kennametal stock opened at $23.94 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a fifty day moving average of $26.88 and a 200-day moving average of $25.60. Kennametal has a 52-week low of $22.50 and a 52-week high of $32.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 2.52.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.03. Kennametal had a return on equity of 8.35% and a net margin of 4.98%. The firm had revenue of $481.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $485.26 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Kennametal will post 1.44 EPS for the current year.

Kennametal Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.34%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. Kennametal’s payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

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.