Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) Cut to “Hold” at Jefferies Financial Group

Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a report published on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The firm currently has $32.00 price target on the industrial products company’s stock, down from their prior price target of $40.00.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Bank of America lowered shares of Kennametal from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Kennametal from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Kennametal from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kennametal currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.17.

Kennametal Trading Down 2.2 %

NYSE:KMT opened at $27.26 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average of $27.01 and a 200 day moving average of $25.52. Kennametal has a 52 week low of $22.50 and a 52 week high of $32.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.38 and a beta of 1.65.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.03. Kennametal had a net margin of 4.98% and a return on equity of 8.35%. The company had revenue of $481.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $485.26 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Kennametal will post 1.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Kennametal Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.93%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, November 12th. Kennametal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 62.50%.

Insider Activity at Kennametal

In related news, VP John Wayne Witt sold 1,765 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.35, for a total transaction of $51,802.75. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $48,192.70. This represents a 51.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Franklin Cardenas sold 20,470 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.24, for a total transaction of $578,072.80. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 39,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,117,767.44. The trade was a 34.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kennametal

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new stake in shares of Kennametal during the 3rd quarter valued at about $804,000. Azarias Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 34.9% during the 2nd quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. now owns 259,399 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,106,000 after acquiring an additional 67,139 shares during the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 2,051,503 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $48,292,000 after acquiring an additional 20,634 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 35.1% in the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 2,332,993 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $54,798,000 after buying an additional 606,477 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C purchased a new position in shares of Kennametal in the second quarter worth approximately $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.