Legato Capital Management LLC Purchases 19,285 Shares of Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT)

Legato Capital Management LLC raised its position in Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) by 42.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 64,860 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,285 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC owned 0.08% of Kennametal worth $1,558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new stake in shares of Kennametal in the third quarter valued at about $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in Kennametal by 120.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its position in shares of Kennametal by 45.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,458 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Kennametal by 98.7% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,029 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 50.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $80,000 after buying an additional 1,122 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on KMT shares. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $40.00 to $32.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. StockNews.com raised shares of Kennametal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on Kennametal from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. Barclays dropped 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. Finally, Bank of America downgraded Kennametal from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, October 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $27.60.

Insider Transactions at Kennametal

In other Kennametal news, VP Franklin Cardenas sold 20,470 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.24, for a total transaction of $578,072.80. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 39,581 shares in the company, valued at $1,117,767.44. This represents a 34.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, CEO Sanjay Chowbey purchased 10,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was acquired at an average price of $21.75 per share, with a total value of $217,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 77,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,687,691.25. This represents a 14.79 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders own 1.41% of the company’s stock.

Kennametal Stock Up 3.4 %

Shares of KMT opened at $22.27 on Thursday. The firm has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 2.53. Kennametal Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.50 and a 52 week high of $32.18. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $24.44 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.54.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.02). Kennametal had a net margin of 4.76% and a return on equity of 8.12%. On average, analysts forecast that Kennametal Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Kennametal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.59%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. Kennametal’s payout ratio is 65.57%.

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.