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

Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT - Get Free Report) hit a new 52-week low 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 traded. The stock had previously closed at $23.46.

The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share 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%.

Kennametal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 11th. Kennametal's payout ratio is currently 65.57%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on KMT. StockNews.com raised shares of Kennametal from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Kennametal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $32.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America lowered Kennametal from a "neutral" rating to an "underperform" rating and set a $26.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Loop Capital boosted their price target on Kennametal from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on Kennametal from $24.50 to $28.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kennametal has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $28.40.

Insider Activity at Kennametal

In related news, VP Franklin Cardenas sold 20,470 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.24, for a total value of $578,072.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 39,581 shares in the company, valued at $1,117,767.44. The trade was a 34.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP John Wayne Witt sold 1,765 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.35, for a total transaction of $51,802.75. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,642 shares in the company, valued at approximately $48,192.70. This represents a 51.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of KMT. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in shares of 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 valued at $162,105,000 after purchasing an additional 1,567,867 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kennametal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,207,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kennametal by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,815,939 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $47,096,000 after buying an additional 17,265 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kennametal by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,479,599 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $35,540,000 after buying an additional 56,104 shares during the period. Finally, Weiss Asset Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Kennametal during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $10,295,000.

Kennametal Stock Up 1.3 %

The stock has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.25, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.66. The business's 50 day moving average is $24.84 and its 200-day moving average is $25.60. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 2.53.

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.