Legato Capital Management LLC Has $1.56 Million Holdings in Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT)

Legato Capital Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) by 42.3% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 64,860 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after acquiring an additional 19,285 shares during the quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Kennametal were worth $1,558,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB acquired a new position in shares of Kennametal in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Kennametal by 120.9% in the fourth quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 1,308 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $34,000 after acquiring an additional 716 shares during the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in Kennametal by 45.9% during the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,458 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $35,000 after purchasing an additional 459 shares in the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its stake in Kennametal by 98.7% during the third 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 last quarter. Finally, KBC Group NV boosted its holdings in shares of Kennametal by 50.3% in the 4th quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 3,351 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $80,000 after purchasing an additional 1,122 shares in the last quarter.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KMT has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com raised Kennametal from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Bank of America downgraded Kennametal from a “neutral” rating to an “underperform” rating and set a $26.00 target price for the company. in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Jefferies Financial Group downgraded shares of Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and reduced their price target for the company from $40.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley lowered their price objective on shares of Kennametal from $28.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, 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. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, four have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $27.60.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP John Wayne Witt sold 1,765 shares of Kennametal stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $29.35, for a total value of $51,802.75. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,642 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $48,192.70. The trade was a 51.81 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CEO Sanjay Chowbey bought 10,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 11th. The shares were purchased 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 trade represents a 14.79 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 1.41% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kennametal Stock Performance

NYSE:KMT opened at $22.27 on Thursday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $24.44 and its 200-day moving average is $25.54. Kennametal Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.50 and a 1-year high of $32.18. The company has a current ratio of 2.53, a quick ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47. The stock has a market cap of $1.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.25, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.57 and a beta of 1.66.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, February 5th. The industrial products company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.02). Kennametal had a return on equity of 8.12% and a net margin of 4.76%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kennametal Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Kennametal Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 25th. Investors of record on Tuesday, February 11th will be issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, February 11th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.59%. Kennametal’s payout ratio is 65.57%.

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.