Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) Hits New 52-Week Low – Here’s What Happened

Shares of Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) reached a new 52-week low during trading on Thursday . The company traded as low as $19.96 and last traded at $20.00, with a volume of 251745 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $21.94.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KMT. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Monday. Jefferies Financial Group cut Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $40.00 to $32.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Barclays dropped their price target on Kennametal from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, March 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley decreased their price objective on Kennametal from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.40.

Kennametal Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.29 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.77. The company has a market cap of $1.53 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.55.

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

Kennametal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.03%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. Kennametal’s payout ratio is presently 65.57%.

Insider Activity at Kennametal

In other Kennametal news, CEO Sanjay Chowbey bought 10,000 shares of Kennametal stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were bought at an average price of $21.75 per share, for a total transaction of $217,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly 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 document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kennametal

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Kennametal during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 120.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted 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 purchasing an additional 459 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Kennametal by 214.2% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,118 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its position in Kennametal by 801.8% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 2,181 shares during the period.

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.