Brokerages Set Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) Price Target at $27.00

Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) has been given a consensus recommendation of “Reduce” by the five research firms that are covering the firm, Marketbeat.com reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation and four have given a hold recommendation to the company. The average 12-month price target among brokers that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $27.00.

Several equities analysts have issued reports on KMT shares. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on Kennametal from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays lowered their price target on Kennametal from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, February 14th. Loop Capital raised their price target on Kennametal from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. StockNews.com raised Kennametal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $32.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kennametal

In other news, VP Franklin Cardenas sold 20,470 shares of Kennametal stock in a transaction that occurred 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sanjay Chowbey purchased 10,000 shares of Kennametal stock in a transaction dated 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now 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 disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kennametal

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KMT. CWM LLC lifted its position in shares of Kennametal by 40.3% during the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,279 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $111,000 after acquiring an additional 1,230 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in shares of Kennametal by 98.7% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,029 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Kennametal by 1,235.5% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 126,645 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,284,000 after purchasing an additional 117,162 shares during the last quarter. Covestor Ltd raised its position in shares of Kennametal by 14.4% during the 3rd quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 3,753 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $97,000 after purchasing an additional 472 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new position in shares of Kennametal during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $425,000.

Kennametal Stock Performance

Shares of KMT stock opened at $22.11 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $23.49 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.34. The firm has a market cap of $1.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.12, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.66. Kennametal has a 1 year low of $20.50 and a 1 year high of $32.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 2.53.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last issued 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%. Analysts predict that Kennametal will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Kennametal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.62%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. 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.