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

Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT)’s share price 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 traded.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Kennametal Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.91, a PEG ratio of 3.15 and a beta of 1.78. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $24.46 and its 200 day moving average is $24.36.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.30 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $495.30 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $498.99 million. Kennametal had a net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 9.94%. The company’s revenue was down .4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. On average, analysts predict that Kennametal Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kennametal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were paid 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 dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 53.33%.

Kennametal announced that its board has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 7th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the industrial products company to purchase up to 10.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP John Wayne Witt sold 1,000 shares of Kennametal stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.55, for a total value of $25,550.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,343 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $34,313.65. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.79% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kennametal

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

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.