Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) Sees Significant Growth in Short Interest

Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) was the recipient of a large increase in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,080,000 shares, an increase of 7.0% from the December 31st total of 5,680,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 898,900 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 6.8 days. Approximately 7.9% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KMT. Barclays reduced their price target on shares of Kennametal from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, January 8th. Loop Capital upped their price objective on Kennametal from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Kennametal from $24.50 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $40.00 to $32.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Bank of America lowered shares of Kennametal from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.67.

Kennametal Trading Down 0.3 %

KMT stock traded down $0.06 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $23.34. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 247,320 shares, compared to its average volume of 818,389. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.23, a PEG ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.66. Kennametal has a 1 year low of $22.50 and a 1 year high of $32.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 2.52. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.67.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.03. The company had revenue of $481.90 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $485.26 million. Kennametal had a net margin of 4.98% and a return on equity of 8.35%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.41 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Kennametal will post 1.43 EPS for the current year.

Kennametal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.43%. Kennametal’s payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

Insider Transactions at Kennametal

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kennametal

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kennametal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,207,000. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its position in shares of Kennametal by 33.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,251,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $162,105,000 after purchasing an additional 1,567,867 shares in the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new position in shares of Kennametal during the third quarter worth $10,295,000. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 141.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hotchkis & Wiley Capital Management LLC now owns 258,910 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,714,000 after purchasing an additional 151,480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Kennametal by 1,235.5% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 126,645 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $3,284,000 after purchasing an additional 117,162 shares in the last quarter.

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.