Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) Short Interest Update

Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT - Get Free Report) was the target of a significant increase in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 6,080,000 shares, an increase of 7.0% from the December 15th total of 5,680,000 shares. Currently, 7.9% of the company's stock are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 898,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.8 days.

Insider Transactions at Kennametal

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 value of $578,072.80. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 39,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,117,767.44. This represents a 34.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP John Wayne Witt sold 1,765 shares of Kennametal stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The stock was 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 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. Corporate insiders own 1.41% of the company's stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kennametal

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Quarry LP grew its holdings in Kennametal by 198.9% during the second quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,058 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 704 shares during the period. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of Kennametal during the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board acquired a new position in shares of Kennametal in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $28,000. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 45.9% in 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 in the last quarter. Finally, Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Kennametal by 98.7% during the third quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,029 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on KMT. StockNews.com lowered Kennametal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Kennametal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their target price for the company from $40.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Kennametal from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research 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 for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Kennametal from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $27.67.

Kennametal Stock Performance

Shares of KMT stock traded down $0.14 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $24.28. The stock had a trading volume of 855,466 shares, compared to its average volume of 779,906. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a PE ratio of 18.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.02 and a beta of 1.67. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $26.38 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.63. Kennametal has a twelve month low of $22.50 and a twelve month high of $32.18. 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 - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.03. Kennametal had a return on equity of 8.35% and a net margin of 4.98%. The company had revenue of $481.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $485.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Kennametal will post 1.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Kennametal Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.30%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. Kennametal's dividend payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

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.

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