Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) Downgraded by StockNews.com to “Hold”

StockNews.com lowered shares of Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Wednesday morning.

KMT has been the topic of a number of other reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Kennametal from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays dropped their price target on Kennametal from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kennametal has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.00.

Kennametal Price Performance

NYSE:KMT traded down $1.02 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $18.07. 348,887 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 843,760. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $21.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.43. Kennametal has a 52-week low of $17.30 and a 52-week high of $32.18. The company has a market cap of $1.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 14.80, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.55. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.02). Kennametal had a net margin of 4.76% and a return on equity of 8.12%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Kennametal will post 1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kennametal Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.43%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. Kennametal’s payout ratio is presently 65.57%.

Insider Activity at Kennametal

In other Kennametal news, CEO Sanjay Chowbey purchased 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $21.75 per share, with a total value of $217,500.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now directly owns 77,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,687,691.25. This trade represents a 14.79 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 1.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kennametal

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kennametal in the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,207,000. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in Kennametal by 13.8% in the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,543,973 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,106,000 after purchasing an additional 308,000 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Kennametal during the fourth quarter worth $5,543,000. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership boosted its position in shares of Kennametal by 32.7% during the fourth quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 469,202 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $11,270,000 after buying an additional 115,718 shares during the period. Finally, Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in shares of Kennametal by 113.7% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 191,151 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,957,000 after buying an additional 101,711 shares in the last quarter.

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.