Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Reduce” by Analysts

Shares of Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” from the six research firms that are covering the stock, Marketbeat.com reports. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have assigned a hold recommendation to the company. The average twelve-month target price among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $27.67.

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com cut Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday. Jefferies Financial Group cut Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $32.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on shares of Kennametal from $24.50 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Kennametal from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Kennametal from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday.

Kennametal Stock Up 1.7 %

NYSE KMT opened at $24.35 on Friday. Kennametal has a 12 month low of $22.50 and a 12 month high of $32.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $1.89 billion, a PE ratio of 19.02, a P/E/G ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.67. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $26.84 and its 200 day moving average is $25.58.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $481.90 million for 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 company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.41 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Kennametal will post 1.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kennametal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.29%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. Kennametal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP John Wayne Witt sold 1,765 shares of Kennametal stock in a transaction on 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 in the company, valued at approximately $48,192.70. This trade represents a 51.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Franklin Cardenas sold 20,470 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.24, for a total transaction of $578,072.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 39,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,117,767.44. The trade was 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 owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kennametal

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMT. Quarry LP increased its position in shares of Kennametal by 198.9% during 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 during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Kennametal during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in Kennametal during the 2nd quarter valued at $28,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 45.9% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,458 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 459 shares during the period. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Kennametal during the 2nd quarter worth $44,000.

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.