Signaturefd LLC Boosts Holdings in Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT)

Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) by 119.6% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 1,107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 603 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC’s holdings in Kennametal were worth $29,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in shares of Kennametal in the fourth quarter worth $1,026,000. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new position in shares of Kennametal in the third quarter worth $517,000. Jump Financial LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 946.7% in the third quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 81,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,023,000 after buying an additional 73,533 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new position in shares of Kennametal in the third quarter worth $62,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 48.0% in the third quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 15,524 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $386,000 after buying an additional 5,037 shares during the last quarter.

Insider Activity at Kennametal

In related news, VP John Wayne Witt sold 1,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.55, for a total transaction of $25,550.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 1,343 shares in the company, valued at $34,313.65. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. 1.61% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on KMT shares. Barclays decreased their price target on shares of Kennametal from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kennametal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. cut their price objective on shares of Kennametal from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, February 8th. Finally, Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Kennametal in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $24.00 price objective on the stock. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.58.

Kennametal Stock Up 1.6 %

NYSE:KMT opened at $24.54 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.95 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.36, a PEG ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 1.76. Kennametal Inc. has a 1-year low of $22.08 and a 1-year high of $30.60. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $24.37 and its 200-day moving average price is $24.32. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.06.

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

Kennametal announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a stock buyback plan on Wednesday, February 7th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the industrial products company to reacquire up to 10.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

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.