Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of May. As of May 29th, there was short interest totaling 4,468,649 shares, an increase of 58.0% from the May 14th total of 2,828,653 shares. Currently, 5.9% of the shares of the company are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 1,474,998 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.0 days.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kennametal

In other Kennametal news, Director Sagar A. Patel sold 29,499 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.50, for a total transaction of $988,216.50. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Judith L. Bacchus sold 5,488 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.94, for a total transaction of $197,238.72. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 4,554 shares in the company, valued at approximately $163,670.76. This trade represents a 54.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 47,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,583,326 over the last three months. 1.43% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in shares of Kennametal in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,290,000. UBS Group AG increased its position in shares of Kennametal by 190.1% in the fourth quarter. UBS Group AG now owns 538,321 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $15,294,000 after purchasing an additional 352,726 shares during the last quarter. Steel Grove Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kennametal in the fourth quarter worth approximately $1,911,000. Medina Value Partners LLC boosted its stake in Kennametal by 72.7% in the fourth quarter. Medina Value Partners LLC now owns 968,294 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $27,509,000 after buying an additional 407,487 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Kennametal by 1.8% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,001,984 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $188,412,000 after buying an additional 155,566 shares in the last quarter.

Kennametal Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of KMT opened at $36.44 on Thursday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $36.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $35.09. Kennametal has a twelve month low of $17.62 and a twelve month high of $43.81. The stock has a market cap of $2.78 billion, a PE ratio of 20.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 1.37. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 2.38 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.09. Kennametal had a return on equity of 11.02% and a net margin of 6.41%.The firm had revenue of $592.59 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $568.03 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 21.8% on a year-over-year basis. Kennametal has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-4.000 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Kennametal will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kennametal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 12th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. Kennametal’s dividend payout ratio is 45.20%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have commented on KMT. DA Davidson began coverage on shares of Kennametal in a report on Tuesday. They set a “neutral” rating and a $34.00 price objective on the stock. Weiss Ratings downgraded shares of Kennametal from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a report on Wednesday, May 20th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $47.50 price target on the stock. in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research cut Kennametal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Monday, May 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on Kennametal from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $35.69.

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.