Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) Short Interest Update

Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest in January. As of January 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,080,000 shares, a decrease of 9.3% from the January 15th total of 5,600,000 shares. Approximately 6.7% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 964,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 5.3 days.

Kennametal Price Performance

NYSE:KMT traded up $0.05 during trading hours on Monday, hitting $22.52. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 778,102 shares, compared to its average volume of 950,510. The business’s 50-day moving average is $24.23 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.48. The company has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a PE ratio of 18.46, a PEG 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 has a 52-week low of $20.50 and a 52-week high of $32.18.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last released 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 return on equity of 8.12% and a net margin of 4.76%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Kennametal will post 1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kennametal Announces Dividend

The firm 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 $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.55%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. Kennametal’s payout ratio is 65.57%.

Insider Activity at Kennametal

In other news, CEO Sanjay Chowbey acquired 10,000 shares of Kennametal stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $21.75 per share, for a total transaction of $217,500.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer now owns 77,595 shares in the company, valued at $1,687,691.25. This represents a 14.79 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP John Wayne Witt sold 1,765 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The shares were 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 approximately $48,192.70. This represents a 51.81 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.41% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kennametal during the fourth quarter valued at $59,207,000. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its stake in shares of Kennametal by 33.5% during the third quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 6,251,632 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $162,105,000 after acquiring an additional 1,567,867 shares during the last quarter. Weiss Asset Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Kennametal during the third quarter valued at $10,295,000. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kennametal by 13.8% during the fourth quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,543,973 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,106,000 after acquiring an additional 308,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new stake in shares of Kennametal during the fourth quarter valued at $5,543,000.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KMT has been the subject of several analyst reports. StockNews.com upgraded Kennametal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Loop Capital upped their price target on Kennametal from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 19th. Morgan Stanley cut their price target on Kennametal from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group cut Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the stock from $40.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays cut their price target on Kennametal from $30.00 to $27.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Friday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.00.

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.