Barclays Has Lowered Expectations for Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) Stock Price

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) had its price objective trimmed by Barclays from $25.00 to $24.00 in a research report sent to investors on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other analysts have also recently commented on KMT. Jefferies Financial Group cut Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Kennametal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Kennametal from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.40.

Kennametal Stock Performance

Shares of KMT stock opened at $22.07 on Wednesday. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $22.57 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.88. Kennametal has a 52 week low of $20.50 and a 52 week high of $32.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.71 billion, a PE ratio of 18.09, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.69.

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

Kennametal Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.63%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. Kennametal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 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 on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $21.75 per share, with a total value of $217,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 77,595 shares in the company, valued at $1,687,691.25. The trade was a 14.79 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 1.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kennametal

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Natixis Advisors LLC raised its stake in Kennametal by 20.6% during the 3rd quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 14,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $367,000 after purchasing an additional 2,415 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kennametal in the third quarter worth $555,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kennametal by 5.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,423,495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $36,911,000 after acquiring an additional 67,392 shares during the last quarter. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in Kennametal during the third quarter valued at $804,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its holdings in Kennametal by 395.8% in the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 16,561 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $429,000 after acquiring an additional 13,221 shares during 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.