Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) Sets New 1-Year Low on Analyst Downgrade

Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Thursday after Wall Street Zen downgraded the stock from a strong-buy rating to a buy rating. The stock traded as low as $24.83 and last traded at $24.3240, with a volume of 91,437 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $26.28.

Several other analysts have also commented on KMT. Zacks Research lowered Kennametal from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, October 14th. Weiss Ratings lowered shares of Kennametal from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday, October 23rd. Morgan Stanley lowered Kennametal from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $31.00 to $27.00 in a research note on Monday, August 10th. DA Davidson dropped their price target on Kennametal from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their price objective on Kennametal from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Thursday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and four have given a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $33.07.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CEO Sanjay Chowbey bought 7,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $23.62 per share, for a total transaction of $165,340.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer owned 280,957 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,636,204.34. This trade represents a 2.56% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Judith Bacchus sold 9,676 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, September 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.29, for a total value of $293,086.04. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 15,721 shares in the company, valued at $476,189.09. This represents a 38.10% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Company insiders own 1.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KMT. Allworth Financial LP acquired a new stake in shares of Kennametal during the second quarter worth about $25,000. Cetera Investment Advisers lifted its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 9.4% in the first quarter. Cetera Investment Advisers now owns 8,376 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $303,000 after purchasing an additional 723 shares in the last quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. lifted its stake in Kennametal by 3,600.0% in the 4th quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 999 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $28,000 after buying an additional 972 shares in the last quarter. Nykredit A S acquired a new stake in shares of Kennametal during the second quarter valued at $37,000. Finally, Vise Technologies Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 13.2% during the third quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. now owns 9,274 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $285,000 after buying an additional 1,085 shares in the last quarter.

Kennametal Price Performance

The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $30.10 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $34.42. The company has a market capitalization of $1.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 3.04, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 2.62.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 4th. The industrial products company reported $3.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $2.65 by $0.83. The business had revenue of $768.19 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $770.36 million. Kennametal had a return on equity of 24.83% and a net margin of 14.53%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 54.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.34 EPS. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Kennametal Inc. will post 5.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Kennametal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 23rd. Shareholders of record on Monday, November 9th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, November 9th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Kennametal’s payout ratio is presently 18.18%.

About Kennametal

Kennametal Inc (NYSE: KMT) is a global industrial technology company that develops and manufactures tooling, engineered components and wear-resistant solutions. Its products are designed to help customers improve productivity, durability and performance in demanding manufacturing and industrial applications.

The company’s offerings include metal-cutting tools and systems, tooling components, advanced materials, and products made with hard metals and other wear-resistant technologies. Kennametal also provides engineered solutions for applications such as machining, earthworks, energy production, transportation, aerospace, defense and general engineering.

Founded in 1938 by Philip M.