Principal Financial Group Inc. Has $9.05 Million Stock Position in Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT)

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) by 2.6% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 376,943 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,630 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.48% of Kennametal worth $9,054,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KMT. Rhumbline Advisers grew its stake in Kennametal by 6.0% in the fourth quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 265,241 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,371,000 after acquiring an additional 14,936 shares during the period. Legato Capital Management LLC grew its stake in Kennametal by 42.3% in the fourth quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 64,860 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,558,000 after acquiring an additional 19,285 shares during the period. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Kennametal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,207,000. KBC Group NV grew its stake in Kennametal by 50.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $80,000 after acquiring an additional 1,122 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew 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 valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares during the period.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have commented on KMT shares. Loop Capital raised their price objective on Kennametal from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Kennametal from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays dropped their target price on Kennametal from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Kennametal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.00.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sanjay Chowbey bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $21.75 per share, with a total value of $217,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 77,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,687,691.25. This represents a 14.79 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 value of $578,072.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kennametal Stock Up 0.8 %

KMT stock opened at $22.11 on Friday. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $23.49 and its 200-day moving average is $25.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a PE ratio of 18.12, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.66. Kennametal Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.50 and a twelve month high of $32.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.02). Kennametal had a return on equity of 8.12% and a net margin of 4.76%. Sell-side analysts expect that Kennametal Inc. will post 1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kennametal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. Kennametal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.57%.

Kennametal 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.