Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) Lifted to “Buy” at StockNews.com

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

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

Kennametal Stock Down 2.2 %

Shares of NYSE KMT traded down $0.53 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $23.53. The stock had a trading volume of 499,569 shares, compared to its average volume of 618,744. Kennametal has a 12 month low of $22.08 and a 12 month high of $30.60. 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 capitalization of $1.86 billion, a PE ratio of 15.68, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.78. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $24.38 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.32.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.05. Kennametal had a net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 9.94%. The firm had revenue of $495.30 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $498.99 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.27 EPS. The business’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Kennametal will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kennametal declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 7th that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the industrial products company to purchase up to 10.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kennametal

In other news, VP John Wayne Witt sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.55, for a total value of $25,550.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,343 shares in the company, valued at $34,313.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kennametal

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its position in Kennametal by 1,186.7% during the fourth quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 890,034 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $22,954,000 after buying an additional 820,864 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Kennametal during the fourth quarter valued at $15,400,000. Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Kennametal by 7.8% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 4,240,814 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $109,371,000 after buying an additional 305,542 shares during the period. Azarias Capital Management L.P. purchased a new position in Kennametal during the first quarter valued at $4,795,000. Finally, Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in Kennametal by 3.7% during the fourth quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 4,852,273 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $125,140,000 after buying an additional 173,023 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.