Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) Stock Price Passes Below Fifty Day Moving Average of $24.46

Shares of Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) passed below its 50-day moving average during trading on Monday . The stock has a 50-day moving average of $24.46 and traded as low as $23.58. Kennametal shares last traded at $23.86, with a volume of 804,964 shares changing hands.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently commented on the company. StockNews.com cut Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Barclays cut their price target on Kennametal from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price target on Kennametal from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley began coverage on Kennametal in a report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kennametal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $24.58.

Kennametal Price Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 1.06, a current ratio of 2.44 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $24.46 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.36. The company has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.78.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.05. Kennametal had a return on equity of 9.94% and a net margin of 5.86%. The company had revenue of $495.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $498.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. Kennametal’s revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Kennametal Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Kennametal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 13th were given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 12th. Kennametal’s payout ratio is currently 53.33%.

Kennametal announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to repurchase up to 10.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Kennametal

In related news, VP John Wayne Witt sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $25.55, for a total value of $25,550.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $34,313.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 1.79% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kennametal

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KMT. BlackRock Inc. raised its position in Kennametal by 32.3% in the 1st quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 13,646,987 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $376,384,000 after buying an additional 3,328,786 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its stake in Kennametal by 1,186.7% in the 4th quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 890,034 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $22,954,000 after purchasing an additional 820,864 shares during the period. Ariel Investments LLC grew its stake in Kennametal by 8.9% in the 1st quarter. Ariel Investments LLC now owns 9,707,735 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $277,739,000 after purchasing an additional 790,456 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Kennametal in the 4th quarter valued at $15,400,000. Finally, State Street Corp grew its stake in Kennametal by 13.0% in the 1st quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,042,929 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $83,924,000 after purchasing an additional 349,174 shares during the period.

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.