Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) Short Interest Up 58.0% in May

Key Points

• Short interest in Kennametal surged 58% in May, reaching 4.47 million shares, or about 5.9% of the float, with a days-to-cover ratio of 3.0.
• Analyst sentiment remains cautious: several firms lowered ratings or trimmed price targets, and the stock now carries an average "Reduce" rating with a $35.69 target price.
• Kennametal reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.77 and revenue of $592.6 million, and it also paid a $0.20 quarterly dividend yielding about 2.2%.

Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT - Get Free Report) was the target of a large growth in short interest during the month of May. As of May 29th, there was short interest totaling 4,468,649 shares, a growth of 58.0% from the May 14th total of 2,828,653 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 1,474,998 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.0 days. Currently, 5.9% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KMT shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Kennametal from $37.00 to $40.00 and gave the company an "underweight" rating in a report on Thursday, May 7th. Zacks Research downgraded Kennametal from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Monday, May 11th. DA Davidson assumed coverage on Kennametal in a research note on Monday. They set a "neutral" rating and a $34.00 price objective for the company. Barclays downgraded Kennametal from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and lowered their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $33.00 in a research note on Wednesday, May 27th. Finally, Weiss Ratings downgraded Kennametal from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research note on Wednesday, May 20th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kennametal currently has an average rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $35.69.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Judith L. Bacchus sold 5,488 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $35.94, for a total value of $197,238.72. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 4,554 shares in the company, valued at approximately $163,670.76. The trade was a 54.65% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Sagar A. Patel sold 29,499 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, June 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $33.50, for a total value of $988,216.50. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 47,000 shares of company stock worth $1,583,326. 1.43% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kennametal

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KMT. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 17.7% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 30,474 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $649,000 after purchasing an additional 4,578 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 4.5% during the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 46,307 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $986,000 after purchasing an additional 2,013 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 13.2% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 240,556 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $5,124,000 after purchasing an additional 28,020 shares during the last quarter. Jane Street Group LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 39.3% during the first quarter. Jane Street Group LLC now owns 229,903 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $4,897,000 after purchasing an additional 64,907 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Kennametal during the second quarter valued at $585,000.

Kennametal Stock Performance

KMT traded up $1.20 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $36.75. 378,818 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 1,435,921. The stock has a market cap of $2.80 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.76, a PEG ratio of 0.22 and a beta of 1.37. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $36.52 and a 200 day moving average of $34.97. The company has a current ratio of 2.38, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.43. Kennametal has a 52 week low of $17.62 and a 52 week high of $43.81.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, May 6th. The industrial products company reported $0.77 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.68 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $592.59 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $568.03 million. Kennametal had a return on equity of 11.02% and a net margin of 6.41%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 21.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.47 earnings per share. Kennametal has set its FY 2026 guidance at 3.750-4.000 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Kennametal will post 2.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kennametal Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, May 26th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, May 12th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, May 12th. Kennametal's dividend payout ratio is currently 45.20%.

Kennametal Company Profile

Kennametal Inc is a global industrial technology company that designs and manufactures advanced materials, tooling systems, and engineered components for a range of demanding applications. Its solutions support precision metalworking, earthmoving, and wear-resistant environments, catering to customers seeking enhanced productivity, longer tool life, and reduced operating costs.

The company's product portfolio spans indexable cutting tools, solid round tools, tool holders, metalworking fluid systems, wear parts, ceramics and composites, and custom-engineered components.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest reporting and unbiased coverage. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.