Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) Reaches New 1-Year Low Following Weak Earnings

Shares of Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) reached a new 52-week low during mid-day trading on Wednesday following a dissappointing earnings announcement. The stock traded as low as $20.50 and last traded at $22.23, with a volume of 65580 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $23.46.

The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.02). Kennametal had a return on equity of 8.35% and a net margin of 4.98%.

Kennametal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. Kennametal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 62.50%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. 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. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kennametal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Loop Capital raised their price objective on shares of Kennametal from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Kennametal from $24.50 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.67.

Insider Transactions at Kennametal

In other Kennametal news, VP Franklin Cardenas sold 20,470 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.24, for a total value of $578,072.80. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 39,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,117,767.44. This represents a 34.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP John Wayne Witt sold 1,765 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.35, for a total value of $51,802.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,192.70. This 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 Trading of Kennametal

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of KMT. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Kennametal during the 3rd quarter worth $804,000. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Kennametal by 45.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,458 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,000 after buying an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Kennametal by 1.0% during 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 last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC grew its stake in Kennametal by 113.7% during the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 191,151 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $4,957,000 after purchasing an additional 101,711 shares during the period. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in Kennametal by 48.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 242,439 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,286,000 after purchasing an additional 79,547 shares during the period.

Kennametal Stock Down 5.2 %

The firm has a 50 day moving average of $25.21 and a 200 day moving average of $25.66. The firm has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.37, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.66. 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 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.