Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) Short Interest Down 10.1% in July

Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) was the target of a large decrease in short interest in July. As of July 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,370,000 shares, a decrease of 10.1% from the July 15th total of 5,970,000 shares. Currently, 7.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 719,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 7.5 days.

Kennametal Stock Performance

KMT stock traded up $0.10 during trading on Friday, hitting $25.10. 854,973 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 673,341. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 2.42 and a quick ratio of 1.09. The company has a market cap of $1.97 billion, a PE ratio of 18.59, a P/E/G ratio of 2.37 and a beta of 1.66. Kennametal has a 1 year low of $22.08 and a 1 year high of $27.05.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $543.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $532.72 million. Kennametal had a return on equity of 9.35% and a net margin of 5.29%. The business’s revenue was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.51 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Kennametal will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kennametal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.19%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, August 13th. Kennametal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 59.26%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KMT has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Kennametal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 13th. Loop Capital decreased their price objective on Kennametal from $24.00 to $22.00 and set a “hold” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, June 21st. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on Kennametal from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $23.83.

Insider Transactions at Kennametal

In other news, CEO Sanjay Chowbey purchased 5,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 10th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $24.28 per share, with a total value of $121,400.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 49,270 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,196,275.60. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.61% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kennametal

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Kennametal during the first quarter worth approximately $534,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Kennametal by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,240,814 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $109,371,000 after purchasing an additional 305,542 shares in the last quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Kennametal during the first quarter worth approximately $4,795,000. Hsbc Holdings PLC increased its position in shares of Kennametal by 188.0% during the fourth quarter. Hsbc Holdings PLC now owns 84,070 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,167,000 after purchasing an additional 54,882 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Kennametal during the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,026,000.

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.