Short Interest in Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) Decreases By 12.3%

Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) was the target of a large drop in short interest in the month of January. As of January 15th, there was short interest totaling 2,318,339 shares, a drop of 12.3% from the December 31st total of 2,642,537 shares. Approximately 3.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,156,324 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 1,156,324 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.0 days. Approximately 3.1% of the shares of the stock are short sold.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kennametal

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Apollo Management Holdings L.P. bought a new position in shares of Kennametal in the 2nd quarter valued at about $8,794,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its position in shares of Kennametal by 33.4% during the 2nd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 739,836 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $16,987,000 after purchasing an additional 185,207 shares during the last quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 31.8% in the 3rd quarter. Azarias Capital Management L.P. now owns 364,357 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $7,626,000 after buying an additional 87,906 shares during the last quarter. Wakefield Asset Management LLLP bought a new position in shares of Kennametal in the second quarter valued at $1,163,000. Finally, Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership increased its holdings in Kennametal by 63.2% during the second quarter. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership now owns 1,381,379 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $31,716,000 after buying an additional 534,978 shares during the last quarter.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on KMT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Kennametal from $25.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an “underweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 14th. Barclays increased their target price on shares of Kennametal from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 7th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c)” rating on shares of Kennametal in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group upped their price objective on shares of Kennametal from $28.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, January 12th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Kennametal from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, November 12th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.67.

Kennametal Price Performance

Shares of KMT stock opened at $35.73 on Wednesday. Kennametal has a 1 year low of $17.30 and a 1 year high of $36.34. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $30.57 and its 200-day moving average is $25.51. The firm has a market capitalization of $2.72 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.28, a PEG ratio of 4.22 and a beta of 1.50. The company has a current ratio of 2.60, a quick ratio of 1.18 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, February 4th. The industrial products company reported $0.47 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.14. Kennametal had a net margin of 4.76% and a return on equity of 8.35%. The business had revenue of $529.53 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $514.70 million. Sell-side analysts forecast that Kennametal will post 1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kennametal Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 24th. Shareholders of record on Tuesday, February 10th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, February 10th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.2%. Kennametal’s dividend payout ratio is presently 65.57%.

Kennametal Company Profile

Kennametal Inc is a global industrial technology company that designs and manufactures advanced materials, tooling systems, and engineered components for a range of demanding applications. Its solutions support precision metalworking, earthmoving, and wear-resistant environments, catering to customers seeking enhanced productivity, longer tool life, and reduced operating costs.

The company’s product portfolio spans indexable cutting tools, solid round tools, tool holders, metalworking fluid systems, wear parts, ceramics and composites, and custom-engineered components.