Brandes Investment Partners LP Buys 78,149 Shares of Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT)

Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its stake in Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) by 3.1% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,573,638 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 78,149 shares during the period. Brandes Investment Partners LP owned about 3.31% of Kennametal worth $61,819,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 174.7% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 40,359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $982,000 after buying an additional 25,666 shares during the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kennametal in the 4th quarter worth $373,000. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Kennametal in the 4th quarter worth $283,000. Atria Investments Inc increased its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 7.6% in the 4th quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 27,658 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $664,000 after buying an additional 1,950 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,479,599 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,540,000 after buying an additional 56,104 shares during the last quarter.

Kennametal Trading Up 1.9 %

Shares of KMT opened at $21.40 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.66 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.54, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.69. 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 firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $22.98 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.11. Kennametal Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.50 and a twelve month high of $32.18.

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

Kennametal Dividend Announcement

The business 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. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.74%. Kennametal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.57%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Sanjay Chowbey acquired 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $21.75 per share, for a total transaction of $217,500.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 77,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,687,691.25. This trade represents a 14.79 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Company insiders own 1.41% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KMT has been the subject of a number of research reports. Barclays set a $25.00 price objective on shares of Kennametal and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. StockNews.com raised shares of Kennametal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley cut their price objective on shares of Kennametal from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Loop Capital upped their price objective on shares of Kennametal from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kennametal presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $26.60.

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.