Kennametal downgraded to Hold from Buy at Jefferies

Jefferies analyst Stephen Volkmann downgraded Kennametal (KMT) to Hold from Buy with a price target of $32, down from $40, as part of a broader research note previewing 2025 for the Machinery and Industrial sector. The markets have been pricing in a “dire industrial scenario” which the firm sees as “unlikely”, the analyst tells investors in a research note. Approaching 2025 however, the landscape has changed as the markets have turned more bullish on industrial trends and with valuations near the high end of historical highs, forcing the firm to be “increasingly selective”, Jefferies states. With underlying industrial fundamentals relatively unchanged, there could be some risk to the remainder of the company’s FY25 guide which bakes in low-single-digit revenue growth through the first half of calendar 2025, the firm added.