State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Raises Position in Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT)

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D increased its stake in shares of Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) by 12.2% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 107,913 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after buying an additional 11,772 shares during the quarter. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D owned 0.14% of Kennametal worth $2,783,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank boosted its holdings in Kennametal by 20.7% during the 3rd quarter. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank now owns 15,795 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $393,000 after acquiring an additional 2,705 shares during the last quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp grew its position in Kennametal by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 15,223 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $371,000 after purchasing an additional 513 shares in the last quarter. Inspire Investing LLC increased its stake in Kennametal by 11.5% in the 3rd quarter. Inspire Investing LLC now owns 12,305 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $306,000 after buying an additional 1,265 shares during the last quarter. Gradient Investments LLC bought a new position in shares of Kennametal during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $96,000. Finally, AlphaMark Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kennametal in the 3rd quarter worth approximately $225,000.

Kennametal Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of KMT opened at $24.07 on Tuesday. Kennametal Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $22.08 and a fifty-two week high of $30.60. The business has a 50-day moving average of $24.38 and a 200 day moving average of $24.33. The firm has a market cap of $1.91 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 2.44.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last issued its 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 analyst estimates of $498.99 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts forecast that Kennametal Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Kennametal announced that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Wednesday, February 7th that permits the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization permits the industrial products company to purchase up to 10.6% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase programs are usually an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Kennametal

In other Kennametal news, VP John Wayne Witt sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 7th. The stock was 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 is available at this hyperlink. 1.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of analysts recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Kennametal from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “underweight” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Morgan Stanley began coverage on Kennametal in a research note on Monday, January 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $24.00 target price on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Barclays lowered their price objective 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. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have assigned a hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kennametal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $24.58.

Kennametal 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.