World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) Shares Bought by Empowered Funds LLC

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its stake in shares of World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC - Free Report) by 14.3% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 300,435 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 37,482 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC owned approximately 0.52% of World Kinect worth $9,286,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WKC. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. acquired a new stake in World Kinect in the second quarter valued at $12,207,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its stake in World Kinect by 10.6% during the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 2,972,932 shares of the company's stock worth $76,714,000 after purchasing an additional 284,560 shares during the last quarter. Boston Partners boosted its holdings in World Kinect by 12.4% in the first quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,358,173 shares of the company's stock valued at $35,263,000 after purchasing an additional 149,433 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in World Kinect by 2.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,056,230 shares of the company's stock valued at $186,637,000 after purchasing an additional 146,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in World Kinect by 3.5% during the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,126,784 shares of the company's stock worth $106,471,000 after purchasing an additional 140,314 shares in the last quarter. 97.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

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 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 owns 1,019,063 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $28,452,238.96. This trade represents a 5.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.90% of the company's stock.

World Kinect Stock Performance

Shares of WKC traded up $0.02 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $27.85. 372,671 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 658,264. 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 fifty-two week low of $19.97 and a fifty-two week high of $31.70. The business's 50 day moving average is $29.37 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.29. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.26.

World Kinect (NYSE:WKC - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results 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 return on equity of 6.29% and a net margin of 0.30%. The company 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 business posted $0.58 EPS. The company's revenue was down 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts expect that World Kinect Co. will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current year.

World Kinect announced that its board has approved a stock 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 repurchase up to 11% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase programs are generally a sign that the company's leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

World Kinect Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, September 30th. World Kinect's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.22%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on WKC. Morgan Stanley cut shares of World Kinect from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $28.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on shares of World Kinect from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Stifel Nicolaus cut World Kinect from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and cut their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Bank of America upped their target price 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 analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $30.20.

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.