Amundi Grows Stake in Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT)

Amundi lifted its stake in shares of Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) by 174.7% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 40,359 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after purchasing an additional 25,666 shares during the period. Amundi’s holdings in Kennametal were worth $982,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Natixis Advisors LLC increased its position in Kennametal by 20.6% in the third quarter. Natixis Advisors LLC now owns 14,158 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $367,000 after buying an additional 2,415 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC increased its holdings in Kennametal by 2,429.9% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 46,929 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $1,217,000 after acquiring an additional 45,074 shares during the last quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Kennametal in the 3rd quarter valued at about $555,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Kennametal by 5.0% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,423,495 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $36,911,000 after purchasing an additional 67,392 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in Kennametal during the third quarter worth about $804,000.

Kennametal Stock Up 1.5 %

KMT opened at $21.71 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.69 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 2.53 and a quick ratio of 1.13. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $22.77 and a 200-day moving average price of $24.98. Kennametal Inc. has a one year low of $20.50 and a one year high of $32.18.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.02). Kennametal had a net margin of 4.76% and a return on equity of 8.12%. Equities research analysts expect that Kennametal Inc. will post 1.17 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kennametal Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th were given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.69%. Kennametal’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 65.57%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KMT has been the topic of several research reports. Morgan Stanley lowered their price target on shares of Kennametal from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a research report on Wednesday, February 12th. Barclays set a $25.00 target price on Kennametal and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, March 10th. StockNews.com upgraded Kennametal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group cut Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $40.00 to $32.00 in a report on Friday, December 6th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $26.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kennametal news, CEO Sanjay Chowbey purchased 10,000 shares of Kennametal stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $21.75 per share, for a total transaction of $217,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 77,595 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,687,691.25. The trade was a 14.79 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.41% of the stock is 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.