Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) Sees Large Increase in Short Interest

Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) was the recipient of a significant growth in short interest in the month of May. As of May 29th, there was short interest totaling 4,468,649 shares, a growth of 58.0% from the May 14th total of 2,828,653 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 1,474,998 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 3.0 days. Approximately 5.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. DA Davidson upgraded shares of Kennametal to a “hold” rating and set a $34.00 target price for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and set a $47.50 target price for the company. in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Kennametal from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, May 20th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Kennametal from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 7th. Finally, Barclays cut shares of Kennametal from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and cut their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $33.00 in a research report on Wednesday, May 27th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average target price of $35.69.

Insider Activity at Kennametal

In other Kennametal news, VP Judith L. Bacchus sold 5,488 shares of Kennametal stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $35.94, for a total transaction of $197,238.72. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 4,554 shares in the company, valued at approximately $163,670.76. The trade was a 54.65% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Sagar A. Patel sold 29,499 shares of Kennametal stock in a transaction dated Monday, June 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.50, for a total transaction of $988,216.50. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 47,000 shares of company stock worth $1,583,326 over the last 90 days. Company insiders own 1.43% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kennametal

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 1.8% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 9,001,984 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $188,412,000 after buying an additional 155,566 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 2.1% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,750,538 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $134,964,000 after buying an additional 96,888 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 44.0% during the third quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 4,221,461 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $88,355,000 after buying an additional 1,289,624 shares in the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its holdings in Kennametal by 0.3% in the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 2,899,770 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $82,382,000 after purchasing an additional 9,963 shares during the period. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership grew its holdings in Kennametal by 15.4% in the first quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 2,298,349 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $83,039,000 after purchasing an additional 307,209 shares during the period.

Kennametal Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE KMT traded up $0.30 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $36.80. 286,734 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,431,315. The company has a market capitalization of $2.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.79, a P/E/G ratio of 0.23 and a beta of 1.37. Kennametal has a 52-week low of $17.62 and a 52-week high of $43.81. The company has a current ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $36.53 and a 200-day moving average price of $35.03.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.68 by $0.09. The business had revenue of $592.59 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $568.03 million. Kennametal had a net margin of 6.41% and a return on equity of 11.02%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. Kennametal has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-4.000 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Kennametal will post 2.99 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kennametal Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 12th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.2%. Kennametal’s payout ratio is 45.20%.

Kennametal Company Profile

Kennametal Inc is a global industrial technology company that designs and manufactures advanced materials, tooling systems, and engineered components for a range of demanding applications. Its solutions support precision metalworking, earthmoving, and wear-resistant environments, catering to customers seeking enhanced productivity, longer tool life, and reduced operating costs.

The company’s product portfolio spans indexable cutting tools, solid round tools, tool holders, metalworking fluid systems, wear parts, ceramics and composites, and custom-engineered components.