Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) Stock Rating Upgraded by UBS Group

Key Points

• UBS Group upgraded Kennametal's stock rating from "sell" to "neutral" and set a target price of $21.00, indicating a potential downside from its previous close.
• Kennametal reported earnings of $0.34 per share for the last quarter, missing expectations and showing a 4.9% decline in revenue compared to the previous year.
• Institutional investors have increased their holdings in Kennametal, with Brandes Investment Partners LP raising its stake by 65.9% in the second quarter.

UBS Group upgraded shares of Kennametal (NYSE:KMT - Free Report) from a sell rating to a neutral rating in a research report report published on Friday, Marketbeat Ratings reports. The brokerage currently has $21.00 price objective on the industrial products company's stock, up from their prior price objective of $19.00.

Other research analysts have also issued reports about the company. Wall Street Zen raised Kennametal from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Zacks Research raised Kennametal to a "strong sell" rating in a report on Monday, August 11th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Kennametal from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a report on Monday, May 12th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their price target on Kennametal from $23.00 to $20.00 and set an "underweight" rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, August 7th. Finally, Loop Capital reiterated a "hold" rating and issued a $24.00 price objective (up previously from $21.00) on shares of Kennametal in a research report on Wednesday, June 25th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kennametal presently has a consensus rating of "Reduce" and an average target price of $24.00.

Kennametal Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of NYSE KMT traded up $0.1650 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $21.0350. 1,438,956 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,093,499. Kennametal has a 1 year low of $17.30 and a 1 year high of $32.18. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.60 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 17.53, a PEG ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.44. 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 business has a 50 day moving average of $23.25 and a two-hundred day moving average of $21.82.

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

Kennametal Announces Dividend

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

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KMT. LPL Financial LLC grew its stake in Kennametal by 29.3% in the fourth quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 17,566 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $422,000 after purchasing an additional 3,978 shares in the last quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN boosted its stake in shares of Kennametal by 14.5% during the 4th quarter. Wells Fargo & Company MN now owns 58,316 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $1,401,000 after acquiring an additional 7,377 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kennametal by 13.4% during the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 17,989 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $432,000 after acquiring an additional 2,130 shares during the period. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its stake in shares of Kennametal by 10.5% during the 4th quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 9,437 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $227,000 after acquiring an additional 898 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. boosted its stake in shares of Kennametal by 4.1% during the 4th quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 426,083 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $10,235,000 after acquiring an additional 16,926 shares during the period.

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.