Morgan Stanley Increases Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) Price Target to $28.00

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) had its price objective raised by Morgan Stanley from $24.50 to $28.00 in a research report released on Tuesday morning,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an equal weight rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently commented on the company. Bank of America downgraded Kennametal from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 18th. StockNews.com downgraded Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, November 7th. Loop Capital lifted their price target on Kennametal from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and five have issued a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.83.

Kennametal Price Performance

Shares of Kennametal stock opened at $26.49 on Tuesday. Kennametal has a 52 week low of $22.50 and a 52 week high of $32.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.52, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The stock has a market cap of $2.06 billion, a PE ratio of 20.70, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.29 and a beta of 1.65. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $27.19 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $25.60.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.26 by $0.03. Kennametal had a net margin of 4.98% and a return on equity of 8.35%. The company had revenue of $481.90 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $485.26 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.41 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 2.2% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kennametal will post 1.44 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kennametal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.02%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. Kennametal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kennametal news, VP Franklin Cardenas sold 20,470 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.24, for a total value of $578,072.80. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 39,581 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,117,767.44. This represents a 34.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 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 transaction of $51,802.75. Following the sale, 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 disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kennametal

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KMT. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in Kennametal in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 19.3% during the 3rd quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 22,402 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $581,000 after buying an additional 3,627 shares during the last quarter. Virtu Financial LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kennametal in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $342,000. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Kennametal by 1.0% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,815,939 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $47,096,000 after buying an additional 17,265 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its position in Kennametal by 95.6% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 163,670 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,244,000 after acquiring an additional 79,992 shares in the last quarter.

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.