Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Kennametal Inc. $KMT

Key Points

• Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. acquired a new position in Kennametal Inc. during the 1st quarter, purchasing 29,263 shares valued at approximately $623,000.
• Analysts have set a consensus price target of $24.00 for Kennametal, with ratings varying from "hold" to "strong sell" among research firms.
• Kennametal recently reported quarterly earnings of $0.34 per share, missing estimates, and a revenue drop of 4.9% year-over-year, reflecting ongoing challenges for the company.

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 29,263 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $623,000.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMT. Curat Global LLC bought a new position in Kennametal during the first quarter valued at about $35,000. Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Kennametal by 107.6% in the 1st quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,958 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,015 shares during the period. US Bancorp DE boosted its position in shares of Kennametal by 93.4% in the 1st quarter. US Bancorp DE now owns 2,145 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $46,000 after purchasing an additional 1,036 shares during the period. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale acquired a new stake in Kennametal during the 1st quarter worth about $52,000. Finally, Bayforest Capital Ltd acquired a new stake in Kennametal during the 1st quarter worth about $64,000.

Kennametal Stock Up 3.1%

Shares of KMT traded up $0.64 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $21.27. 872,910 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 783,907. Kennametal Inc. has a 12-month low of $17.30 and a 12-month high of $32.18. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $22.44 and a 200-day simple moving average of $21.65. The company has a quick ratio of 1.19, a current ratio of 2.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45. The company has a market cap of $1.62 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.73, a P/E/G ratio of 3.62 and a beta of 1.44.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.40 by ($0.06). Kennametal had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 4.73%.The firm had revenue of $516.45 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $527.52 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.49 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 4.9% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Kennametal Inc. will post 1.17 EPS for the current year.

Kennametal Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, August 26th. Investors of record on Tuesday, August 12th were paid a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, August 12th. Kennametal's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 66.67%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KMT has been the subject of a number of research reports. UBS Group upgraded Kennametal from a "sell" rating to a "neutral" rating and raised their price objective for the stock from $19.00 to $21.00 in a research report on Friday, August 15th. Loop Capital restated a "hold" rating and set a $24.00 price objective (up from $21.00) on shares of Kennametal in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price objective on Kennametal from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded Kennametal to a "strong sell" rating in a research report on Monday, August 11th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and a consensus price target of $24.00.

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.