Fisher Asset Management LLC Sells 32,378 Shares of Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT)

Fisher Asset Management LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) by 1.5% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund owned 2,107,609 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 32,378 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Kennametal were worth $54,650,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Azarias Capital Management L.P. boosted its stake in shares of Kennametal by 34.9% in the 2nd quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. now owns 259,399 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $6,106,000 after purchasing an additional 67,139 shares in the last quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 1.0% during the second quarter. Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC now owns 2,051,503 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $48,292,000 after acquiring an additional 20,634 shares in the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its holdings in Kennametal by 35.1% in the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 2,332,993 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $54,798,000 after purchasing an additional 606,477 shares in the last quarter. Deerfield Management Company L.P. Series C purchased a new stake in Kennametal in the second quarter worth about $1,202,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. purchased a new position in shares of Kennametal in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $624,000.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts recently issued reports on KMT shares. Bank of America cut shares of Kennametal from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $26.00 price target for the company. in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Loop Capital lifted their target price on shares of Kennametal from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. Barclays boosted their price target on Kennametal from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday, August 9th. Finally, StockNews.com lowered Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 7th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and four have issued a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $25.00.

Kennametal Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KMT opened at $28.50 on Wednesday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $26.56 and a 200 day moving average of $25.38. The company has a quick ratio of 1.16, a current ratio of 2.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Kennametal Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.50 and a twelve month high of $32.18. The firm has a market cap of $2.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.27, a PEG ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 1.64.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.03. Kennametal had a return on equity of 8.35% and a net margin of 4.98%. The firm had revenue of $481.90 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $485.26 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.41 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts expect that Kennametal Inc. will post 1.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kennametal Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, November 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, November 12th were paid a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, November 12th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.81%. Kennametal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 62.50%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP John Wayne Witt sold 1,765 shares of Kennametal stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.35, for a total value of $51,802.75. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,192.70. The trade was a 51.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.