Merit Financial Group LLC Takes Position in Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT)

Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 19,922 shares of the industrial products company's stock, valued at approximately $424,000.

Other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Parallel Advisors LLC grew its position 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 acquiring an additional 1,015 shares in the last quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC grew its position in shares of Kennametal by 214.2% during the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,118 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $51,000 after buying an additional 1,444 shares in the last quarter. Sterling Capital Management LLC lifted its position 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 worth $59,000 after purchasing an additional 2,181 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its holdings in Kennametal by 10.5% during the fourth quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 9,437 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $227,000 after buying an additional 898 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC grew 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 purchasing an additional 10,193 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KMT has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Barclays upped their target price on Kennametal from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a research report on Monday, May 12th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Kennametal from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th. Finally, Morgan Stanley increased their price target 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, Kennametal currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $25.80.

Kennametal Stock Down 1.8%

NYSE KMT traded down $0.41 on Friday, hitting $21.85. 689,229 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 896,053. Kennametal Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.30 and a fifty-two week high of $32.18. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $20.51 and a 200-day moving average price of $22.49. The company has a quick ratio of 1.13, a current ratio of 2.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market cap of $1.67 billion, a PE ratio of 17.91, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.40.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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. Kennametal had a return on equity of 8.12% and a net margin of 4.76%. The company had revenue of $486.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $489.30 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. Kennametal's revenue for the quarter was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Kennametal Inc. will post 1.17 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kennametal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Investors of record on Tuesday, May 13th were given a $0.20 dividend. 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 (DPR) is 57.55%.

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.