Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) Sets New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT)’s share price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday . The company traded as high as $40.92 and last traded at $40.8250, with a volume of 1611765 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $40.32.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on KMT. The Goldman Sachs Group set a $32.00 price target on shares of Kennametal in a report on Friday. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Kennametal from $25.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 14th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on shares of Kennametal from $27.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Barclays lifted their price objective on Kennametal from $28.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $33.50.

Kennametal Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.44, a quick ratio of 1.14 and a current ratio of 2.55. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.55, a PEG ratio of 0.68 and a beta of 1.50. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $31.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $25.91.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.35 by $0.12. Kennametal had a return on equity of 9.46% and a net margin of 5.43%.The business had revenue of $529.53 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $514.70 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.25 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.9% compared to the same quarter last year. Kennametal has set its Q3 2026 guidance at 0.500-0.600 EPS and its FY 2026 guidance at 2.050-2.450 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kennametal Inc. will post 1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kennametal Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 24th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.0%. Kennametal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 55.94%.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kennametal by 1.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,001,984 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $188,412,000 after buying an additional 155,566 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its stake in Kennametal by 65.9% during the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 8,154,119 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $187,219,000 after acquiring an additional 3,238,093 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 44.0% during the 3rd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,221,461 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $88,355,000 after acquiring an additional 1,289,624 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 10.1% during the 2nd quarter. Fisher Asset Management LLC now owns 2,564,944 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $58,891,000 after acquiring an additional 234,550 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its stake in shares of Kennametal by 36.6% in the third quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,887,048 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $39,496,000 after acquiring an additional 505,669 shares during the period.

About Kennametal

Kennametal Inc is a global industrial technology company that designs and manufactures advanced materials, tooling systems, and engineered components for a range of demanding applications. Its solutions support precision metalworking, earthmoving, and wear-resistant environments, catering to customers seeking enhanced productivity, longer tool life, and reduced operating costs.

The company’s product portfolio spans indexable cutting tools, solid round tools, tool holders, metalworking fluid systems, wear parts, ceramics and composites, and custom-engineered components.