Victory Capital Management Inc. Increases Position in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC)

Victory Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) by 11.6% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 454,954 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 47,142 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. owned approximately 0.78% of World Kinect worth $14,063,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of WKC. GSA Capital Partners LLP acquired a new position in World Kinect during the 3rd quarter worth about $1,990,000. Entropy Technologies LP purchased a new stake in World Kinect during the third quarter worth about $586,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in shares of World Kinect during the third quarter worth about $76,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of World Kinect by 4.4% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,341,484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,465,000 after purchasing an additional 56,952 shares during the period. Finally, QRG Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of World Kinect in the third quarter valued at approximately $434,000. 97.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

World Kinect Stock Performance

Shares of WKC stock opened at $27.80 on Wednesday. The company has a market cap of $1.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.36, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.26. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $29.37 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.37. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. World Kinect Co. has a 12 month low of $20.00 and a 12 month high of $31.70.

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 the consensus estimate of $0.62. World Kinect had a return on equity of 6.29% and a net margin of 0.30%. The business had revenue of $10.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.58 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts predict that World Kinect Co. will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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 paid a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.45%. World Kinect’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.22%.

World Kinect declared that its board has initiated a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 9th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 11% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are usually a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

World Kinect Company Profile

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.