World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) Shares Gap Down – Here’s Why

World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC)’s share price gapped down before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $31.34, but opened at $27.50. World Kinect shares last traded at $28.62, with a volume of 461,997 shares traded.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently commented on the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of World Kinect from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of World Kinect from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price target for the company from $33.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Friday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on World Kinect from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered World Kinect from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $28.00 target price on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.20.

World Kinect Stock Performance

The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.56 billion, a P/E ratio of 11.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25. The company’s 50 day moving average is $29.63 and its 200-day moving average is $27.04.

World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62. World Kinect had a net margin of 0.29% and a return on equity of 6.26%. The company had revenue of $10.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that World Kinect Co. will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

World Kinect Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.58%. World Kinect’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.09%.

World Kinect declared that its Board of Directors has authorized a share repurchase program on Monday, September 9th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to purchase up to 11% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically a sign that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other World Kinect news, CEO Michael J. Kasbar sold 58,948 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.92, for a total value of $1,645,828.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,019,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,452,238.96. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO Michael J. Kasbar sold 58,948 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.92, for a total value of $1,645,828.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,019,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,452,238.96. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Manley sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.28, for a total value of $452,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,614 shares in the company, valued at $1,403,083.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On World Kinect

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Bank of Montreal Can lifted its position in shares of World Kinect by 6.7% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 527,404 shares of the company’s stock valued at $13,697,000 after purchasing an additional 33,332 shares in the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its stake in shares of World Kinect by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,358,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,263,000 after buying an additional 149,433 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp boosted its stake in shares of World Kinect by 1.3% in the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 52,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,394,000 after buying an additional 682 shares during the last quarter. Caxton Associates LP grew its holdings in shares of World Kinect by 77.5% in the first quarter. Caxton Associates LP now owns 44,599 shares of the company’s stock valued at $1,180,000 after acquiring an additional 19,467 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of World Kinect by 76.6% during the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 139,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,599,000 after acquiring an additional 60,500 shares during the last quarter. 97.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.