Morgan Stanley Has Lowered Expectations for Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) Stock Price

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) had its price objective reduced by stock analysts at Morgan Stanley from $28.00 to $24.00 in a report issued on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage presently has an “equal weight” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price target points to a potential upside of 11.50% from the company’s previous close.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the stock. Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $32.00 in a 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. Barclays cut their price objective on Kennametal from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America lowered 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, Loop Capital upped their price target on Kennametal from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company 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 issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.60.

Kennametal Trading Down 2.8 %

NYSE:KMT opened at $21.53 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.64, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.66. Kennametal has a one year low of $20.50 and a one year high of $32.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 2.53. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.56 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.56.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.02). Kennametal had a net margin of 4.76% and a return on equity of 8.12%. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Kennametal will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kennametal

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KMT. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new stake in Kennametal during the 3rd quarter valued at $804,000. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 45.9% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,458 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kennametal by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,815,939 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $47,096,000 after acquiring an additional 17,265 shares during the period. Jane Street Group LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 113.7% in the third quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 191,151 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,957,000 after acquiring an additional 101,711 shares in the last quarter. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Kennametal by 48.8% during the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 242,439 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,286,000 after acquiring an additional 79,547 shares during the period.

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.