19,922 Shares in Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) Purchased by Merit Financial Group LLC

Merit Financial Group LLC purchased a new position in Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 19,922 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $424,000.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its stake in Kennametal by 107.6% in the first quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 1,958 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $42,000 after purchasing an additional 1,015 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC boosted its stake in Kennametal by 214.2% in the fourth quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,118 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $51,000 after acquiring an additional 1,444 shares during the period. Sterling Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in Kennametal by 801.8% in the fourth quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC now owns 2,453 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $59,000 after acquiring an additional 2,181 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in Kennametal by 10.5% in the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 9,437 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $227,000 after acquiring an additional 898 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Kennametal by 699.1% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 11,651 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $248,000 after acquiring an additional 10,193 shares during the period.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have commented on the company. Barclays lifted their target price on Kennametal from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen upgraded Kennametal from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Kennametal from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $25.80.

Kennametal Stock Down 1.8%

NYSE:KMT traded down $0.41 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $21.85. The company's stock had a trading volume of 689,229 shares, compared to its average volume of 894,810. The company has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.91, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.40. Kennametal Inc. has a one year low of $17.30 and a one year high of $32.18. The business's 50-day moving average is $20.51 and its 200-day moving average is $22.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.13.

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

Kennametal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.66%. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, May 13th. Kennametal's dividend payout ratio is currently 57.55%.

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.