First Trust Advisors LP Increases Stock Position in Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT)

First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in shares of Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT - Free Report) by 36.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 171,259 shares of the industrial products company's stock after acquiring an additional 45,746 shares during the period. First Trust Advisors LP owned 0.22% of Kennametal worth $4,114,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in shares of Kennametal during the third quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 120.9% during the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,308 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its stake in shares of Kennametal by 45.9% in the fourth 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 during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 214.2% during the fourth 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 lifted its position in Kennametal by 801.8% during the fourth 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 during the period.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have weighed in on the stock. Barclays decreased their target price on shares of Kennametal from $24.00 to $22.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Thursday, April 10th. Morgan Stanley reduced their price objective on Kennametal from $24.00 to $20.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, April 16th. Finally, StockNews.com raised Kennametal from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Monday, April 28th. One research 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 MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average target price of $25.20.

Kennametal Stock Performance

NYSE KMT traded up $0.57 on Thursday, hitting $20.33. 251,359 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 868,559. The business's 50 day moving average price is $20.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.57. Kennametal Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.30 and a 52-week high of $32.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.13 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The company has a market capitalization of $1.57 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.66, a P/E/G ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.39.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, May 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 company posted $0.30 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 5.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts expect that Kennametal Inc. will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current year.

Kennametal Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, May 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 13th will be given a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date is Tuesday, May 13th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.94%. Kennametal's payout ratio is 65.57%.

Insider Activity at Kennametal

In other Kennametal news, CEO Sanjay Chowbey purchased 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were bought at an average cost of $21.75 per share, with a total value of $217,500.00. Following the acquisition, the chief executive officer now owns 77,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,687,691.25. This trade represents a 14.79 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. 1.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.