Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) Short Interest Up 8.4% in September

Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest during the month of September. As of September 30th, there was short interest totalling 6,290,000 shares, a growth of 8.4% from the September 15th total of 5,800,000 shares. Approximately 8.2% of the company's shares are sold short. Based on an average trading volume of 740,500 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 8.5 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays upped their price target on shares of Kennametal from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Friday, August 9th. StockNews.com downgraded Kennametal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, October 10th. Finally, Loop Capital boosted their price objective on Kennametal from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, August 22nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have given a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $24.00.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. UniSuper Management Pty Ltd purchased a new position in Kennametal in the first quarter valued at $534,000. Wellington Management Group LLP grew its holdings in Kennametal by 7.8% in the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,240,814 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $109,371,000 after purchasing an additional 305,542 shares during the period. Azarias Capital Management L.P. purchased a new stake in shares of Kennametal in the first quarter valued at approximately $4,795,000. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its stake in shares of Kennametal by 1.0% during the 2nd quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 2,051,503 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $48,292,000 after buying an additional 20,634 shares during the period. Finally, BNP Paribas Financial Markets lifted its position in shares of Kennametal by 85.3% during the 1st quarter. BNP Paribas Financial Markets now owns 87,340 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $2,178,000 after buying an additional 40,193 shares in the last quarter.

Kennametal Stock Up 2.8 %

Shares of NYSE:KMT traded up $0.71 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $26.05. The company's stock had a trading volume of 788,029 shares, compared to its average volume of 671,969. The firm's fifty day moving average price is $25.26 and its 200 day moving average price is $24.76. Kennametal has a 52 week low of $22.08 and a 52 week high of $27.04. The company has a market capitalization of $2.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.65 and a beta of 1.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46, a current ratio of 2.41 and a quick ratio of 1.17.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.49 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.44 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $543.31 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $532.72 million. Kennametal had a return on equity of 9.17% and a net margin of 5.34%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 1.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.51 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Kennametal will post 1.51 EPS for the current year.

Kennametal Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, August 13th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 13th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.07%. Kennametal's payout ratio is currently 59.26%.

About Kennametal

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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