Morgan Stanley Lowers Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) Price Target to $24.00

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) had its price objective lowered by equities research analysts at Morgan Stanley from $28.00 to $24.00 in a research report issued to clients and investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the industrial products company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 6.79% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the stock. StockNews.com raised shares of Kennametal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Barclays dropped their price objective on shares of Kennametal from $31.00 to $30.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, January 8th. Bank of America cut shares of Kennametal from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $26.00 price objective for the company. in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group cut shares of 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 research note on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Loop Capital raised their target price on shares of Kennametal from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kennametal has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $27.60.

Kennametal Stock Performance

KMT opened at $22.47 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.42, a PEG ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.66. The company has a fifty day moving average of $24.33 and a 200 day moving average of $25.52. Kennametal has a fifty-two week low of $20.50 and a fifty-two week high of $32.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a current ratio of 2.53.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.02). Kennametal had a return on equity of 8.12% and a net margin of 4.76%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kennametal will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Kennametal

In related news, CEO Sanjay Chowbey acquired 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $21.75 per share, with a total value of $217,500.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 77,595 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,687,691.25. This represents a 14.79 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Franklin Cardenas sold 20,470 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.24, for a total transaction of $578,072.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 39,581 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,117,767.44. This trade represents a 34.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.41% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kennametal

Large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB purchased a new stake in Kennametal in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kennametal by 120.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $34,000 after purchasing an additional 716 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC lifted its position in shares of Kennametal by 45.9% in the 4th quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,458 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $35,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Kennametal by 98.7% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 2,029 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $53,000 after purchasing an additional 1,008 shares during the period. Finally, Headlands Technologies LLC lifted its position in shares of Kennametal by 214.2% in the 4th quarter. Headlands Technologies LLC now owns 2,118 shares of the industrial products company’s stock worth $51,000 after purchasing an additional 1,444 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.