Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) Hits New 12-Month High – Should You Buy?

Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) hit a new 52-week high on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $31.27 and last traded at $31.15, with a volume of 150704 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $26.58.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KMT shares. Loop Capital upped their target price on Kennametal from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, August 22nd. StockNews.com raised Kennametal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America downgraded Kennametal from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Kennametal from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, August 9th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, three have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.60.

Kennametal Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 2.41 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.46. The company has a 50 day moving average of $25.43 and a 200 day moving average of $24.92. The firm has a market cap of $2.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.40, a PEG ratio of 2.84 and a beta of 1.64.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, August 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.49 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.44 by $0.05. Kennametal had a return on equity of 9.17% and a net margin of 5.34%. The firm had revenue of $543.31 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $532.72 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.51 earnings per share. Kennametal’s revenue for the quarter was down 1.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Kennametal Inc. will post 1.43 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kennametal Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th will be paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.56%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, November 12th. Kennametal’s payout ratio is currently 58.39%.

Institutional Trading of Kennametal

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its position in shares of Kennametal by 35.1% during the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 2,332,993 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $54,798,000 after purchasing an additional 606,477 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. raised its position in shares of Kennametal by 20.3% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,903,714 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $44,813,000 after purchasing an additional 321,876 shares during the period. Interval Partners LP acquired a new stake in shares of Kennametal during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $5,598,000. International Assets Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Kennametal by 1,235.5% during 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 during the period. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its position in shares of Kennametal by 2.2% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,683,485 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $110,248,000 after purchasing an additional 100,905 shares during the period.

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.