Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) Shares Sold by Arizona State Retirement System

Arizona State Retirement System reduced its stake in shares of Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) by 2.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 21,246 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 468 shares during the period. Arizona State Retirement System’s holdings in Kennametal were worth $548,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new position in Kennametal in the 3rd quarter valued at $517,000. Jump Financial LLC raised its holdings in Kennametal by 946.7% in the 3rd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 81,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,023,000 after acquiring an additional 73,533 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new position in Kennametal in the 3rd quarter valued at $62,000. ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in Kennametal in the 3rd quarter valued at $161,000. Finally, Quadrature Capital Ltd raised its holdings in Kennametal by 48.0% in the 3rd quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 15,524 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $386,000 after acquiring an additional 5,037 shares during the last quarter.

Kennametal Stock Up 1.7 %

Shares of Kennametal stock opened at $24.50 on Friday. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $24.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $24.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. Kennametal Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.08 and a twelve month high of $30.60. The stock has a market cap of $1.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.20 and a beta of 1.78.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last announced its quarterly 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 net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 9.94%. The firm had revenue of $495.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $498.99 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts forecast that Kennametal Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kennametal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 12th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.27%. Kennametal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 53.33%.

Kennametal declared that its board has authorized a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 7th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to purchase up to 10.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are often an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have weighed in on the company. Barclays cut their price target on 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 downgraded Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Morgan Stanley started coverage on Kennametal in a report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on Kennametal from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, February 8th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP John Wayne Witt sold 1,000 shares of the company’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 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 sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.61% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.