Raymond James & Associates Invests $1.88 Million in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC)

Raymond James & Associates purchased a new stake in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 82,567 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,881,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of World Kinect during the 3rd quarter worth about $157,793,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of World Kinect during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $18,002,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in World Kinect by 15.6% during the second quarter. State Street Corp now owns 3,988,560 shares of the company’s stock worth $82,002,000 after acquiring an additional 538,300 shares during the last quarter. Invesco Ltd. grew its stake in World Kinect by 26.3% in the 1st quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 1,359,957 shares of the company’s stock worth $36,774,000 after acquiring an additional 282,839 shares during the period. Finally, Nordea Investment Management AB purchased a new position in shares of World Kinect during the 4th quarter worth $3,843,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.06% of the company’s stock.

World Kinect Stock Down 0.7 %

WKC opened at $24.37 on Thursday. World Kinect Co. has a 1 year low of $17.69 and a 1 year high of $26.83. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $25.01 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.11. The company has a market cap of $1.46 billion, a PE ratio of 29.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.26.

World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.04. World Kinect had a net margin of 0.11% and a return on equity of 6.07%. The firm had revenue of $12 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that World Kinect Co. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

World Kinect Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a $0.17 dividend. This is a positive change from World Kinect’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.79%. World Kinect’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.95%.

Insider Activity at World Kinect

In related news, Director Paul H. Stebbins sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.37, for a total value of $487,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 75,375 shares in the company, valued at $1,836,888.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. 2.60% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on WKC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. started coverage on World Kinect in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $25.00 target price on the stock. Bank of America increased their target price on World Kinect from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, March 14th. Finally, Raymond James increased their target price on World Kinect from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.75.

World Kinect 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.