Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) Upgraded to “Buy” at StockNews.com

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) was upgraded by equities research analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report released on Wednesday.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on KMT. Bank of America cut Kennametal from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target for the company. in a report 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 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 report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Kennametal from $24.50 to $28.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.83.

Kennametal Stock Performance

Kennametal stock traded up $0.28 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $24.02. The stock had a trading volume of 521,984 shares, compared to its average volume of 728,866. Kennametal has a fifty-two week low of $22.50 and a fifty-two week high of $32.18. The company has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a PE ratio of 18.77, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.26 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a 50-day moving average of $27.00 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.58. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $481.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $485.26 million. Kennametal had a return on equity of 8.35% and a net margin of 4.98%. Kennametal’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.41 EPS. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Kennametal will post 1.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other 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 value of $51,802.75. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,192.70. This represents a 51.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Franklin Cardenas sold 20,470 shares of the company’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 completion of the transaction, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.41% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kennametal

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Quarry LP grew its holdings in Kennametal by 198.9% in the 2nd quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,058 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 704 shares in the last quarter. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in shares of Kennametal in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Kennametal in the second quarter valued at about $28,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kennametal in the second quarter valued at about $44,000. Finally, Signaturefd LLC increased its position in 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 period.

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.