Quest Partners LLC Raises Stock Position in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC)

Quest Partners LLC grew its holdings in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) by 678,100.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 6,782 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,781 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in World Kinect were worth $210,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in World Kinect by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,056,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,637,000 after buying an additional 146,899 shares during the period. PEAK6 Investments LLC acquired a new position in World Kinect during the 1st quarter worth $392,000. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in World Kinect by 3.1% during the 1st quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 133,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,529,000 after acquiring an additional 4,060 shares in the last quarter. EMC Capital Management grew its holdings in World Kinect by 29.2% during the 1st quarter. EMC Capital Management now owns 8,277 shares of the company’s stock worth $219,000 after acquiring an additional 1,870 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Verity Asset Management Inc. acquired a new position in World Kinect during the 1st quarter worth $238,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.06% of the company’s stock.

World Kinect Stock Performance

NYSE WKC opened at $29.14 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.69 billion, a PE ratio of 12.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.13 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.33 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.55. World Kinect Co. has a one year low of $20.00 and a one year high of $31.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.16.

World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.62. World Kinect had a net margin of 0.30% and a return on equity of 6.29%. The firm had revenue of $10.49 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.58 EPS. World Kinect’s quarterly revenue was down 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that World Kinect Co. will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current year.

World Kinect announced that its board has approved a share repurchase program on Monday, September 9th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 11% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

World Kinect Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.33%. World Kinect’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 30.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on WKC. Morgan Stanley lowered shares of World Kinect from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $28.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of World Kinect from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of World Kinect from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price target for the company from $33.00 to $32.00 in a report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of World Kinect from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.20.

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.