Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) Stock Sees Heavy Call Option Buying

Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) was the recipient of unusually large options trading activity on Monday. Stock investors purchased 3,696 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 2,833% compared to the typical volume of 126 call options.

Insider Activity at Kennametal

In other news, CEO Sanjay Chowbey bought 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 10th. The shares were bought at an average price of $29.10 per share, for a total transaction of $203,700.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the chief executive officer owned 246,839 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,183,014.90. This trade represents a 2.92% increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Judith L. Bacchus sold 9,676 shares of Kennametal stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.29, for a total value of $293,086.04. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 15,721 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $476,189.09. The trade was a 38.10% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Company insiders own 1.65% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. WINTON GROUP Ltd raised its stake in Kennametal by 170.1% during the second quarter. WINTON GROUP Ltd now owns 58,366 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $2,046,000 after acquiring an additional 36,757 shares in the last quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP boosted its stake in shares of Kennametal by 166.2% in the 2nd quarter. Engineers Gate Manager LP now owns 121,709 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $4,266,000 after purchasing an additional 75,990 shares in the last quarter. Integrated Wealth Concepts LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kennametal in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $44,000. Squarepoint Ops LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kennametal in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $589,000. Finally, Nykredit A S bought a new stake in shares of Kennametal during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000.

Kennametal Price Performance

NYSE KMT traded up $0.51 during midday trading on Monday, hitting $31.54. The company had a trading volume of 290,507 shares, compared to its average volume of 1,396,818. The company has a market capitalization of $2.41 billion, a PE ratio of 7.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.30 and a beta of 1.34. The company has a current ratio of 2.62, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $31.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $34.41. Kennametal has a twelve month low of $20.38 and a twelve month high of $43.81.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, August 5th. The industrial products company reported $2.96 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.31 by $0.65. The firm had revenue of $736.61 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $725.74 million. Kennametal had a return on equity of 24.83% and a net margin of 14.53%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 42.6% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.34 earnings per share. Kennametal has set its Q1 2027 guidance at 2.500-2.800 EPS and its FY 2027 guidance at 4.150-5.150 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Kennametal will post 4.92 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kennametal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 11th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.5%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, August 11th. Kennametal’s dividend payout ratio is currently 18.18%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on KMT shares. Zacks Research raised Kennametal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, September 15th. Morgan Stanley downgraded Kennametal from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and dropped their target price for the stock from $31.00 to $27.00 in a report on Monday, August 10th. DA Davidson decreased their price target on shares of Kennametal from $34.00 to $30.00 and set a “neutral” rating on the stock in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Kennametal in a research report on Monday, August 17th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. dropped their price objective on shares of Kennametal from $40.00 to $34.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research note on Monday, July 13th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Hold rating and four have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kennametal has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and an average price target of $34.07.

About Kennametal

Kennametal Inc (NYSE: KMT) is an industrial technology company that develops and manufactures tooling, engineered components and wear-resistant solutions for demanding applications. Its products are designed to help customers cut, shape, drill and protect materials used in manufacturing, transportation, energy, infrastructure and other industrial markets.

The company’s offerings include carbide and ceramic cutting tools, indexable inserts, solid carbide tooling, toolholding systems and related metal-cutting products.