Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) Receives Average Recommendation of “Reduce” from Analysts

Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) has earned an average rating of “Reduce” from the five research firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have issued a hold rating on the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $24.17.

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KMT. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kennametal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 13th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Kennametal from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Loop Capital lifted their price objective on shares of Kennametal from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd.

Kennametal Price Performance

KMT stock opened at $24.92 on Friday. Kennametal has a 12 month low of $22.08 and a 12 month high of $27.04. The company has a current ratio of 2.41, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $24.61 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.60. The stock has a market cap of $1.96 billion, a PE ratio of 18.46, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 1.66.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.49 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.05. Kennametal had a net margin of 5.34% and a return on equity of 9.17%. The firm had revenue of $543.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $532.72 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.51 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kennametal will post 1.51 earnings per share for the current year.

Kennametal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.21%. Kennametal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 59.26%.

Insider Activity

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of KMT. Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its position in Kennametal by 35.1% during the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 2,332,993 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $54,798,000 after purchasing an additional 606,477 shares during the last quarter. Quarry LP boosted its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 198.9% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,058 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 704 shares during the last quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company boosted its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 2.4% in the 2nd quarter. The Manufacturers Life Insurance Company now owns 43,877 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,033,000 after acquiring an additional 1,016 shares during the last quarter. Millennium Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 59.3% in the 2nd quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 154,059 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,627,000 after acquiring an additional 57,327 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C purchased a new stake in shares of Kennametal in the 2nd quarter valued at $1,202,000.

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.