Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Purchases New Position in Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new stake in shares of Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 39,800 shares of the industrial products company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,026,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System owned about 0.05% of Kennametal as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMT. Connor Clark & Lunn Investment Management Ltd. lifted its holdings in Kennametal by 102.4% during the 3rd 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 purchasing an additional 124,349 shares during the last quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Kennametal by 1,070.2% during the 3rd quarter. Schonfeld Strategic Advisors LLC now owns 124,067 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $3,087,000 after purchasing an additional 113,465 shares during the last quarter. Trexquant Investment LP lifted its holdings in Kennametal by 63.2% during the 3rd quarter. Trexquant Investment LP now owns 211,943 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $5,273,000 after purchasing an additional 82,060 shares during the last quarter. Jump Financial LLC lifted its holdings in Kennametal by 946.7% during the 3rd quarter. Jump Financial LLC now owns 81,300 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,023,000 after purchasing an additional 73,533 shares during the last quarter. Finally, GSA Capital Partners LLP lifted its holdings in Kennametal by 541.0% during the 3rd quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 86,155 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $2,144,000 after purchasing an additional 72,715 shares during the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on KMT shares. Barclays lowered 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 report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Kennametal in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They issued an “equal weight” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. StockNews.com cut shares of Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lowered their price objective 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. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kennametal presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $24.58.

Kennametal Stock Up 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:KMT opened at $24.49 on Thursday. Kennametal Inc. has a one year low of $22.08 and a one year high of $30.60. The company has a 50 day moving average of $24.42 and a 200-day moving average of $24.34. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45, a current ratio of 2.44 and a quick ratio of 1.06. The stock has a market cap of $1.94 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.33, a P/E/G ratio of 3.24 and a beta of 1.78.

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

Kennametal Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were given a dividend of $0.20 per share. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.27%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 12th. Kennametal’s dividend payout ratio is 53.33%.

Kennametal declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share buyback plan on Wednesday, February 7th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the industrial products company to reacquire up to 10.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Transactions at Kennametal

In related news, VP John Wayne Witt sold 1,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 1.79% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kennametal Profile

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.