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

StockNews.com cut shares of Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Monday morning.

Several other research analysts also recently commented on the company. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their target price on Kennametal from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective on Kennametal from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kennametal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $26.40.

Kennametal Stock Performance

Shares of KMT stock opened at $21.32 on Monday. The firm has a market cap of $1.65 billion, a PE ratio of 17.47, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.69. Kennametal has a 12 month low of $20.50 and a 12 month high of $32.18. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.82. 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 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%. Equities research analysts expect that Kennametal will post 1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kennametal Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Stockholders 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.75%. Kennametal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.57%.

Insider Activity

In other Kennametal news, CEO Sanjay Chowbey acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was purchased at an average cost 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 in the company, valued at approximately $1,687,691.25. The trade was a 14.79 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kennametal

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kennametal in the 4th quarter worth $59,207,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Kennametal by 33.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 1,567,867 shares during the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in Kennametal in the third quarter worth $10,295,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kennametal by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,543,973 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $61,106,000 after purchasing an additional 308,000 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Kennametal in the 4th quarter worth about $5,543,000.

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.