Natixis Advisors LLC Cuts Stake in Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT)

Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) by 13.6% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 12,234 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 1,924 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kennametal were worth $294,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Kennametal in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its stake in Kennametal by 120.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its stake in Kennametal by 45.9% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,458 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV boosted its position in Kennametal by 50.3% during the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 1,122 shares during the period. Finally, Centiva Capital LP bought a new position in shares of Kennametal during the third quarter valued at about $230,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KMT shares. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Kennametal from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kennametal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Kennametal from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.40.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Sanjay Chowbey bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $21.75 per share, with a total value of $217,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 77,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,687,691.25. The trade was a 14.79 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction 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 currently owned by company insiders.

Kennametal Price Performance

Shares of KMT stock opened at $21.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 2.53. Kennametal Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $20.50 and a fifty-two week high of $32.18. The firm has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.72, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.69. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $22.46 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.84.

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 anticipate that Kennametal Inc. will post 1.17 earnings per share 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. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. Kennametal’s payout ratio is currently 65.57%.

About Kennametal

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.