Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) was the target of a significant growth in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totalling 6,080,000 shares, a growth of 7.0% from the December 31st total of 5,680,000 shares. Approximately 7.9% of the shares of the company are short sold. Based on an average trading volume of 898,900 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.8 days.

Kennametal Stock Performance

KMT stock traded up $0.01 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $23.41. The stock had a trading volume of 220,849 shares, compared to its average volume of 816,223. Kennametal has a 52-week low of $22.50 and a 52-week high of $32.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 2.52. The stock has a market cap of $1.82 billion, a PE ratio of 18.30, a P/E/G ratio of 2.32 and a beta of 1.66. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.31 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.67.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, November 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.29 earnings per share for the quarter, topping 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 business had revenue of $481.90 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $485.26 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.41 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 2.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Kennametal will post 1.43 EPS for the current year.

Kennametal Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.42%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. Kennametal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 62.50%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kennametal news, VP John Wayne Witt sold 1,765 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.35, for a total transaction 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. This trade represents a 51.81 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Franklin Cardenas sold 20,470 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.24, for a total value of $578,072.80. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 39,581 shares in the company, valued at $1,117,767.44. The trade was a 34.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.41% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Sanctuary Advisors LLC grew its stake in Kennametal by 5.7% in the 4th quarter. Sanctuary Advisors LLC now owns 23,671 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $574,000 after buying an additional 1,269 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in Kennametal by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 376,943 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $9,054,000 after acquiring an additional 9,630 shares in the last quarter. Rhumbline Advisers grew its position in shares of Kennametal by 6.0% during the 4th quarter. Rhumbline Advisers now owns 265,241 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $6,371,000 after buying an additional 14,936 shares during the period. Legato Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Kennametal by 42.3% during the fourth quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 64,860 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $1,558,000 after purchasing an additional 19,285 shares during the period. Finally, Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in Kennametal in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $59,207,000.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on KMT shares. StockNews.com raised Kennametal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Kennametal from $24.50 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, December 17th. Bank of America downgraded Kennametal from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays decreased 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.67.

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.