Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) Receives $26.60 Consensus Price Target from Brokerages

Shares of Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) have earned an average recommendation of “Reduce” from the five analysts that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat.com reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price objective among brokerages that have covered the stock in the last year is $26.60.

KMT has been the topic of a number of research analyst reports. Barclays set a $25.00 target price on Kennametal and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, March 10th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Kennametal from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Kennametal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th.

Insider Transactions at Kennametal

In related news, CEO Sanjay Chowbey purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $21.75 per share, with a total value of $217,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 77,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,687,691.25. This represents a 14.79 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Insiders own 1.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kennametal

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Kennametal by 33.5% during the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,251,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $162,105,000 after purchasing an additional 1,567,867 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its stake in Kennametal by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,134,051 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $123,319,000 after purchasing an additional 101,159 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its stake in Kennametal by 3.1% during the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 2,573,638 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,819,000 after purchasing an additional 78,149 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Kennametal by 13.8% during the 4th 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. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in Kennametal during the 4th quarter valued at $59,207,000.

Kennametal Price Performance

KMT stock opened at $21.58 on Wednesday. Kennametal has a 52-week low of $20.50 and a 52-week high of $32.18. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.67 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.93. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.69, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.69.

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

Kennametal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.71%. Kennametal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.57%.

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.