Morgan Stanley Cuts Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) Price Target to $20.00

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) had its price target lowered by Morgan Stanley from $24.00 to $20.00 in a research report released on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the industrial products company’s stock.

KMT has been the subject of a number of other research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 9th. Barclays reduced their price target on Kennametal from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 10th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating and five have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $25.20.

Kennametal Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:KMT opened at $18.64 on Wednesday. Kennametal has a 12-month low of $17.30 and a 12-month high of $32.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $21.02 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.10. The firm has a market cap of $1.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.28, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.55.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last announced 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 net margin of 4.76% and a return on equity of 8.12%. Equities analysts anticipate that Kennametal will post 1.17 EPS for the current year.

Kennametal Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were paid a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.29%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. Kennametal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 65.57%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO Sanjay Chowbey bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $21.75 per share, for a total transaction of $217,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 77,595 shares in the company, valued at $1,687,691.25. This trade represents a 14.79 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders own 1.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KMT. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Kennametal by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 5,134,051 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $123,319,000 after acquiring an additional 101,159 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its position in shares of Kennametal by 3.1% in the fourth quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 2,573,638 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $61,819,000 after purchasing an additional 78,149 shares during the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kennametal by 13.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 2,543,973 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $61,106,000 after purchasing an additional 308,000 shares in the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kennametal during the 4th quarter worth approximately $59,207,000. Finally, Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in Kennametal by 1.0% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,815,939 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $47,096,000 after buying an additional 17,265 shares in the last quarter.

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.