Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) Upgraded at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Monday morning.

A number of other equities analysts also recently issued reports on the company. Loop Capital increased their price target on Kennametal from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on shares of Kennametal from $24.50 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Kennametal from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America downgraded shares of Kennametal from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective on the stock. in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of 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 research note on Friday, December 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kennametal currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $27.67.

Kennametal Trading Up 0.9 %

KMT stock opened at $23.98 on Monday. Kennametal has a 12 month low of $22.50 and a 12 month high of $32.18. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $25.62 and its 200 day moving average is $25.68. The company has a market capitalization of $1.86 billion, a PE ratio of 18.74, a P/E/G ratio of 2.05 and a beta of 1.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 2.52 and a quick ratio of 1.16.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.29 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates 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 net margin of 4.98% and a return on equity of 8.35%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Kennametal will post 1.44 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 39,581 shares in the company, valued at $1,117,767.44. This represents a 34.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP John Wayne Witt sold 1,765 shares of Kennametal stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.35, for a total transaction of $51,802.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,192.70. This trade represents a 51.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kennametal

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its stake in Kennametal by 33.5% in the 3rd quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,251,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $162,105,000 after acquiring an additional 1,567,867 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kennametal in the fourth quarter worth about $59,207,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 35.1% during the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 2,332,993 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $54,798,000 after purchasing an additional 606,477 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Kennametal by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,815,939 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $47,096,000 after buying an additional 17,265 shares during the period. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 5.0% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,423,495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,911,000 after acquiring an additional 67,392 shares during the last quarter.

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.