Argyle Capital Management Inc. Reduces Position in Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT)

Argyle Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Kennametal Inc. (NYSE:KMT) by 22.1% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 10,567 shares of the industrial products company’s stock after selling 3,000 shares during the period. Argyle Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Kennametal were worth $273,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently bought and sold shares of KMT. Signaturefd LLC grew its stake in Kennametal by 119.6% during the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,107 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 603 shares in the last quarter. CWM LLC grew its stake in shares of Kennametal by 191.1% in the 4th quarter. CWM LLC now owns 1,767 shares of the industrial products company’s stock valued at $46,000 after buying an additional 1,160 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kennametal in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $48,000. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale purchased a new stake in shares of Kennametal in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $62,000. Finally, Acadian Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kennametal in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $82,000.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP John Wayne Witt sold 1,000 shares of Kennametal stock in a transaction 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,343 shares in the company, valued at approximately $34,313.65. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. 1.79% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kennametal Price Performance

Shares of KMT opened at $24.04 on Monday. Kennametal Inc. has a twelve month low of $22.08 and a twelve month high of $30.60. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $24.38 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 16.03, a PEG ratio of 3.23 and a beta of 1.78. The company has a current ratio of 2.44, a quick ratio of 1.06 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.45.

Kennametal (NYSE:KMT) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, February 7th. The industrial products company reported $0.30 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.25 by $0.05. Kennametal had a net margin of 5.86% and a return on equity of 9.94%. The business had revenue of $495.30 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $498.99 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.27 EPS. The company’s revenue was down .4% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts forecast that Kennametal Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kennametal announced that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback program 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 purchase up to 10.6% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

Kennametal Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 27th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, February 13th were issued a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 12th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.33%. Kennametal’s payout ratio is 53.33%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on KMT shares. Morgan Stanley started coverage on shares of Kennametal in a research report on Monday, January 8th. They set an “equal weight” rating and a $24.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. reduced their target price on shares of Kennametal from $26.00 to $24.00 and set an “underweight” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, February 8th. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kennametal from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 19th. Finally, Barclays reduced their target price on shares of Kennametal from $25.00 to $24.00 and set an “equal weight” rating on the stock in a report on Tuesday, April 2nd. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating and three have given a hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kennametal has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $24.58.

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.