Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) Short Interest Update

Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT - Get Free Report) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,000,000 shares, a drop of 21.3% from the January 31st total of 5,080,000 shares. Currently, 5.2% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 925,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 4.3 days.

Kennametal Stock Performance

KMT traded up $0.39 on Friday, hitting $22.41. 1,000,844 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,019,783. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $23.20 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.23. Kennametal has a twelve month low of $20.50 and a twelve month high of $32.18. The firm has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a PE ratio of 18.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.66.

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

Remove Ads

Kennametal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.57%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. Kennametal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kennametal

In related news, CEO Sanjay Chowbey purchased 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $21.75 per share, with a total value of $217,500.00. Following the completion of the acquisition, the chief executive officer now directly owns 77,595 shares in the company, valued at $1,687,691.25. The trade was a 14.79 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kennametal

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Neo Ivy Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Kennametal in the 4th quarter worth $962,000. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC lifted its position in Kennametal by 24.0% in the 4th quarter. UBS AM a distinct business unit of UBS ASSET MANAGEMENT AMERICAS LLC now owns 212,536 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $5,105,000 after buying an additional 41,163 shares in the last quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Kennametal by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Voloridge Investment Management LLC now owns 640,162 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $15,377,000 after purchasing an additional 8,753 shares during the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kennametal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $487,000. Finally, Twinbeech Capital LP acquired a new position in shares of Kennametal during the 4th quarter worth $410,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KMT. Barclays cut their price objective on shares of Kennametal from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Morgan Stanley dropped their price objective on shares of Kennametal from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Kennametal from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com upgraded Kennametal from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their price target on shares of Kennametal from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $27.00.

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.