Ariel Investments LLC Decreases Stake in Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT)

Ariel Investments LLC reduced its stake in Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT - Free Report) by 6.9% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 7,740,557 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 573,125 shares during the period. Kennametal makes up about 2.0% of Ariel Investments LLC's holdings, making the stock its 23rd largest holding. Ariel Investments LLC owned about 9.96% of Kennametal worth $185,928,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new position in shares of Kennametal in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. grew its holdings in Kennametal by 120.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,308 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $34,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its holdings in 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 acquiring an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of Kennametal by 214.2% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,118 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sterling Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 801.8% in the 4th quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $59,000 after purchasing an additional 2,181 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on KMT shares. Morgan Stanley decreased their price target on Kennametal from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, April 16th. Barclays decreased their target price on Kennametal from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kennametal from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $25.20.

Insider Transactions at Kennametal

In other news, CEO Sanjay Chowbey acquired 10,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was bought at an average price of $21.75 per share, for a total transaction of $217,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 77,595 shares in the company, valued at $1,687,691.25. This represents a 14.79 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Company insiders own 1.41% of the company's stock.

Kennametal Stock Performance

KMT traded up $0.95 during trading on Thursday, hitting $20.71. 476,479 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,031,597. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a P/E ratio of 16.98, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.39. Kennametal Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.30 and a 1-year high of $32.18. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $20.27 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $23.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.47 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.26 by $0.21. Kennametal had a net margin of 4.76% and a return on equity of 8.12%. The company had revenue of $486.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $489.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. Kennametal's quarterly revenue was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts predict that Kennametal Inc. will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Kennametal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.86%. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. Kennametal's payout ratio is currently 65.57%.

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.