Fisher Asset Management LLC Reduces Stake in Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT)

Fisher Asset Management LLC cut its position in Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT - Free Report) by 20.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,039,680 shares of the industrial products company's stock after selling 534,071 shares during the period. Fisher Asset Management LLC owned 2.56% of Kennametal worth $52,603,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in Kennametal by 1.4% in the third quarter. Burgundy Asset Management Ltd. now owns 4,679,250 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $116,420,000 after acquiring an additional 66,389 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its position in Kennametal by 2.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,180,022 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $29,359,000 after purchasing an additional 31,759 shares during the period. Heartland Advisors Inc. increased its stake in Kennametal by 12.3% during the 3rd quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. now owns 630,152 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $15,678,000 after purchasing an additional 69,041 shares in the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Kennametal by 10.5% during the third quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 280,127 shares of the industrial products company's stock worth $6,970,000 after buying an additional 26,686 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Kennametal by 102.4% in the third quarter. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. now owns 245,753 shares of the industrial products company's stock valued at $6,114,000 after buying an additional 124,349 shares in the last quarter.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. decreased their target price on shares of Kennametal from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an "underweight" rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, February 8th. Morgan Stanley assumed coverage on shares of Kennametal in a report on Monday, January 8th. They set an "equal weight" rating and a $24.00 price target on the stock. Barclays decreased their price objective on shares of Kennametal from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an "equal weight" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday, April 2nd. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Kennametal from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $24.58.

Kennametal Stock Performance

KMT traded up $0.38 during midday trading on Friday, reaching $24.54. The company had a trading volume of 872,676 shares, compared to its average volume of 587,129. Kennametal Inc. has a 12-month low of $22.08 and a 12-month high of $30.60. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $24.37 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.31. The stock has a market cap of $1.95 billion, a PE ratio of 16.36, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.76. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a current ratio of 2.44.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.30 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.25 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $495.30 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $498.99 million. Kennametal had a return on equity of 9.94% and a net margin of 5.86%. Kennametal's revenue for the quarter was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.27 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts expect that Kennametal Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kennametal announced that its board has initiated a share repurchase plan on Wednesday, February 7th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the industrial products company to repurchase up to 10.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are generally an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity at Kennametal

In other Kennametal news, VP John Wayne Witt sold 1,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, March 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $25.55, for a total transaction of $25,550.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,343 shares in the company, valued at $34,313.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. 1.61% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.