Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) Upgraded at StockNews.com

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) was upgraded by analysts at StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a note issued to investors on Tuesday.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the company. Barclays lowered their price target on Kennametal from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price target on Kennametal from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on Kennametal in a report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $24.00 target price for the company. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.58.

Kennametal Stock Down 2.2 %

NYSE KMT traded down $0.53 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $23.53. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 499,569 shares, compared to its average volume of 618,744. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The company has a market cap of $1.86 billion, a PE ratio of 15.68, a P/E/G ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.78. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $24.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.32. Kennametal has a fifty-two week low of $22.08 and a fifty-two week high of $30.60.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $495.30 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $498.99 million. Kennametal had a return on equity of 9.94% and a net margin of 5.86%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Kennametal will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kennametal announced that its board has approved a share buyback program on Wednesday, February 7th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to buy up to 10.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP John Wayne Witt sold 1,000 shares of Kennametal stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.55, for a total transaction of $25,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,343 shares in the company, valued at $34,313.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Signaturefd LLC raised its position in Kennametal by 119.6% during the fourth quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 603 shares in the last quarter. First United Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of Kennametal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. CWM LLC increased its position in shares of Kennametal by 191.1% in the fourth quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 1,160 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kennametal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $48,000. Finally, DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in shares of Kennametal in the third quarter valued at approximately $62,000.

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.