Short Interest in Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) Decreases By 9.3%

Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a significant decline in short interest during the month of January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,080,000 shares, a decline of 9.3% from the January 15th total of 5,600,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 964,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.3 days. Approximately 6.7% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KMT has been the topic of a number of research reports. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Kennametal from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on shares of Kennametal from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kennametal from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Kennametal from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an "equal weight" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Kennametal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price target for the company from $40.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $27.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Franklin Cardenas sold 20,470 shares of the firm'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 completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 39,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,117,767.44. This trade represents a 34.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO Sanjay Chowbey purchased 10,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $21.75 per share, for a total transaction of $217,500.00. Following the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 77,595 shares in the company, valued at $1,687,691.25. The trade was a 14.79 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Company insiders own 1.41% of the company's stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its holdings in Kennametal by 74.6% in the third quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 12,173 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $316,000 after acquiring an additional 5,202 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kennametal by 40.3% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 4,279 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $111,000 after purchasing an additional 1,230 shares during the last quarter. Inspire Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kennametal in the 3rd quarter valued at $204,000. Signaturefd LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kennametal by 98.7% in the 3rd 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. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its stake in Kennametal by 1,235.5% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 126,645 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $3,284,000 after buying an additional 117,162 shares during the last quarter.

Kennametal Price Performance

Shares of Kennametal stock traded down $0.42 during trading on Friday, reaching $22.24. 927,144 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,000,834. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 2.53. Kennametal has a 1-year low of $20.50 and a 1-year high of $32.18. The company has a market cap of $1.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.23, a PEG ratio of 3.67 and a beta of 1.66. The firm's 50-day moving average price is $23.79 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.40.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.02). Kennametal had a net margin of 4.76% and a return on equity of 8.12%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Kennametal will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Kennametal Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.60%. Kennametal's dividend payout ratio is presently 65.57%.

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.