36,148 Shares in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) Acquired by Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund

Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund bought a new stake in shares of World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 36,148 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $823,000.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WKC. Nordea Investment Management AB purchased a new stake in shares of World Kinect in the 4th quarter worth $3,843,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in World Kinect in the fourth quarter worth about $1,421,000. New York State Teachers Retirement System bought a new position in shares of World Kinect in the fourth quarter worth about $2,584,000. Duality Advisers LP purchased a new position in shares of World Kinect during the 4th quarter valued at about $796,000. Finally, CX Institutional bought a new position in shares of World Kinect during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $3,594,000. 97.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Insider Transactions at World Kinect

In related news, Director Paul H. Stebbins sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.37, for a total transaction of $487,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 75,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,836,888.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

World Kinect Trading Up 3.3 %

Shares of WKC opened at $23.76 on Tuesday. World Kinect Co. has a 1 year low of $17.69 and a 1 year high of $26.83. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.12 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 1.14 and a quick ratio of 0.97. The firm has a market cap of $1.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.03 and a beta of 1.26.

World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.23 billion. World Kinect had a net margin of 0.12% and a return on equity of 6.39%. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that World Kinect Co. will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

World Kinect Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.86%. World Kinect’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.12%.

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.