Jefferies Financial Group Downgrades Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) to Hold

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) was downgraded by analysts at Jefferies Financial Group from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a note issued to investors on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $32.00 price objective on the industrial products company’s stock, down from their prior price objective of $40.00. Jefferies Financial Group’s price target would suggest a potential upside of 17.39% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently commented on the stock. Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Kennametal from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Kennametal from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Finally, Bank of America downgraded shares of Kennametal from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target for the company. in a report on Friday, October 18th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.17.

Kennametal Stock Performance

NYSE:KMT opened at $27.26 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.30, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.65. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $27.01 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.53. 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 released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $481.90 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $485.26 million. Kennametal had a net margin of 4.98% and a return on equity of 8.35%. The firm’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Kennametal will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Franklin Cardenas sold 20,470 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $1,117,767.44. This represents a 34.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $48,192.70. The trade was a 51.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kennametal

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Quarry LP raised its position in Kennametal by 198.9% in the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,058 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 704 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Kennametal in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in Kennametal in the second quarter worth about $28,000. Quest Partners LLC bought a new stake in Kennametal in the second quarter worth about $44,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Kennametal by 98.7% in the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,029 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter.

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.