Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) Short Interest Down 21.3% in February

Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 4,000,000 shares, a decrease of 21.3% from the January 31st total of 5,080,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 925,100 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 4.3 days. Currently, 5.2% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kennametal

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

Institutional Trading of Kennametal

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KMT. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in Kennametal during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kennametal by 120.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Kennametal by 45.9% in 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. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 214.2% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,118 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Kennametal by 801.8% during the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 2,181 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on KMT shares. Barclays dropped their price target on Kennametal from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 14th. Loop Capital increased their target price on Kennametal from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price target on shares of Kennametal from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, February 12th. StockNews.com raised shares of Kennametal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lowered shares of Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their target price for the company from $40.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kennametal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.00.

Kennametal Price Performance

KMT stock traded down $0.34 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $21.10. The company had a trading volume of 274,572 shares, compared to its average volume of 998,009. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.25, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.66. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $23.38 and a 200 day moving average of $25.31. Kennametal has a fifty-two week low of $20.50 and a fifty-two week high of $32.18.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share (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%. As a group, research analysts predict that Kennametal will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Kennametal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. Kennametal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.57%.

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.