World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) Given Consensus Rating of “Hold” by Analysts

Shares of World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) have earned a consensus rating of “Hold” from the four research firms that are covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. One analyst has rated the stock with a sell recommendation, two have assigned a hold recommendation and one has assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among brokers that have covered the stock in the last year is $26.75.

WKC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. Raymond James upped their target price on World Kinect from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on World Kinect in a research note on Wednesday, February 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $25.00 price objective for the company. Finally, Bank of America lifted their target price on shares of World Kinect from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other World Kinect news, Director Paul H. Stebbins sold 20,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.37, for a total transaction of $487,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 75,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,836,888.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On World Kinect

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of WKC. Vanguard Group Inc. bought a new stake in World Kinect in the 3rd quarter valued at about $157,793,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP bought a new position in shares of World Kinect in the 4th quarter worth $90,585,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP acquired a new stake in World Kinect in the 4th quarter valued at $57,423,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its stake in World Kinect by 3.4% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,631,393 shares of the company’s stock valued at $43,150,000 after purchasing an additional 52,930 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. acquired a new position in World Kinect during the fourth quarter worth $28,874,000. 97.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

World Kinect Trading Up 0.8 %

WKC opened at $23.93 on Monday. The company’s 50 day moving average is $25.06 and its 200-day moving average is $22.94. The company has a market cap of $1.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.73, a PEG ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.27. World Kinect has a 1-year low of $17.69 and a 1-year high of $26.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.14, a quick ratio of 0.97 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41.

World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.04. World Kinect had a net margin of 0.12% and a return on equity of 6.39%. The firm had revenue of $12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.23 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. Equities research analysts predict that World Kinect will post 2.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

World Kinect Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. This is a boost from World Kinect’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.84%. World Kinect’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.12%.

About World Kinect

World Kinect Corporation operates as an energy management company in the United States, the Americas, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and the Asia Pacific. This segment also offers fuel management, price risk management, ground handling, dispatch services, and trip planning services, such as flight planning and scheduling, weather reports and overflight permits; payment and processing services; and operates a web-based marketplace platform.