Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) Cut to Hold at Jefferies Financial Group

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT - Get Free Report) was downgraded by Jefferies Financial Group from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report issued on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. They currently have a $32.00 price target on the industrial products company's stock, down from their prior price target of $40.00. Jefferies Financial Group's target price indicates a potential upside of 17.39% from the company's previous close.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on KMT. Barclays increased their price objective on Kennametal from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Loop Capital increased their price target on shares of Kennametal from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. 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 report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Kennametal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, November 7th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have assigned a hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $26.17.

Kennametal Stock Performance

NYSE:KMT traded down $0.62 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $27.26. The stock had a trading volume of 843,797 shares, compared to its average volume of 716,381. The stock has a market capitalization of $2.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.78, a PEG ratio of 2.40 and a beta of 1.65. 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 has a 1-year low of $22.50 and a 1-year high of $32.18. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $26.99 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.53.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $485.26 million. During the same period last year, the business posted $0.41 earnings per share. The firm's revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Kennametal will post 1.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP John Wayne Witt sold 1,765 shares of Kennametal stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $29.35, for a total transaction of $51,802.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,642 shares of the company's stock, valued at $48,192.70. This trade represents a 51.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Franklin Cardenas sold 20,470 shares of the business'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 transaction, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kennametal

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 6.3% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 42,385 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,058,000 after purchasing an additional 2,519 shares during the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its holdings in Kennametal by 46.7% during the 2nd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,049 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $72,000 after acquiring an additional 970 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its position in Kennametal by 4.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 1,270,285 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $29,903,000 after acquiring an additional 48,638 shares in the last quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. raised its stake in shares of Kennametal by 34.9% in the second quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. now owns 259,399 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $6,106,000 after acquiring an additional 67,139 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kennametal during the second quarter worth approximately $900,000.

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.