StockNews.com Upgrades Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) to Buy

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report sent to investors on Friday morning.

A number of other equities analysts have also weighed in on the company. Barclays boosted their price objective on Kennametal from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on shares of Kennametal from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $25.80.

Kennametal Stock Performance

KMT opened at $21.87 on Friday. Kennametal has a twelve month low of $17.30 and a twelve month high of $32.18. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a PE ratio of 17.93, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.39. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $20.23 and its 200 day moving average price is $23.36.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.21. The business had revenue of $486.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $489.30 million. Kennametal had a net margin of 4.76% and a return on equity of 8.12%. The business’s revenue was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.30 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Kennametal will post 1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kennametal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. Kennametal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 57.55%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kennametal

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kennametal in the 1st quarter valued at $7,009,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. raised its holdings in Kennametal by 4.5% in the 1st quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 46,307 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $986,000 after buying an additional 2,013 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in Kennametal in the first quarter valued at about $623,000. Bridgeway Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Kennametal during the first quarter worth about $11,801,000. Finally, Cubist Systematic Strategies LLC purchased a new position in Kennametal during the first quarter worth about $3,412,000.

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.