Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) Price Target Lowered to $24.00 at Morgan Stanley

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) had its price target trimmed by Morgan Stanley from $28.00 to $24.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

Other equities research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. 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 research note on Friday, October 18th. Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Kennametal from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $40.00 to $32.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays cut their price target on shares of Kennametal from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Kennametal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.60.

Kennametal Stock Performance

Shares of KMT opened at $22.27 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.66. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.44 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.54. Kennametal has a 12 month low of $20.50 and a 12 month high of $32.18.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share 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, analysts predict that Kennametal will post 1.18 EPS for the current year.

Kennametal Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. Kennametal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 65.57%.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Franklin Cardenas sold 20,470 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 39,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,117,767.44. This trade represents a 34.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP John Wayne Witt sold 1,765 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on 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 owns 1,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,192.70. This trade represents a 51.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kennametal

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Kennametal during the second quarter worth about $451,000. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Kennametal by 74.6% during the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,173 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $316,000 after buying an additional 5,202 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC increased its holdings in Kennametal by 40.3% during the third quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,279 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $111,000 after buying an additional 1,230 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kennametal in the third quarter worth approximately $204,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC boosted its position in shares of Kennametal by 98.7% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,029 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,000 after acquiring an additional 1,008 shares during the last quarter.

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.