Heartland Advisors Inc. Lowers Position in Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT)

Heartland Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in shares of Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) by 48.9% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 151,062 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 144,757 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Kennametal were worth $3,629,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new stake in Kennametal during the third quarter worth $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Kennametal by 120.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of Kennametal by 45.9% during the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,458 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV lifted its stake in Kennametal by 50.3% in the fourth quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Centiva Capital LP purchased a new stake in Kennametal in the third quarter worth $230,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on KMT shares. StockNews.com raised shares of Kennametal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley dropped their target price on Kennametal from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $40.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays cut their target price on Kennametal from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.40.

Kennametal Trading Down 1.7 %

Shares of KMT stock opened at $21.62 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $1.67 billion, a PE ratio of 17.72, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.69. Kennametal Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.50 and a 52-week high of $32.18. The business’s fifty day moving average is $22.46 and its 200 day moving average is $24.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a current ratio of 2.53.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.02). Kennametal had a net margin of 4.76% and a return on equity of 8.12%. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Kennametal Inc. will post 1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kennametal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 11th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.70%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, February 11th. Kennametal’s payout ratio is 65.57%.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Sanjay Chowbey purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $21.75 per share, for a total transaction of $217,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 77,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,687,691.25. This trade represents a 14.79 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Corporate insiders own 1.41% of the company’s stock.

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.