Principal Financial Group Inc. Increases Stock Position in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC - Free Report) by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,341,484 shares of the company's stock after purchasing an additional 56,952 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 2.24% of World Kinect worth $41,465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of World Kinect during the 2nd quarter valued at about $65,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new position in shares of World Kinect during the 3rd quarter valued at about $210,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its position in shares of World Kinect by 20.7% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 6,927 shares of the company's stock valued at $179,000 after acquiring an additional 1,189 shares during the last quarter. Highland Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of World Kinect during the 3rd quarter valued at about $253,000. Finally, Privium Fund Management UK Ltd acquired a new position in shares of World Kinect during the 2nd quarter valued at about $208,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.06% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael J. Kasbar sold 58,948 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.92, for a total transaction of $1,645,828.16. Following the completion of 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. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Insiders own 2.90% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on WKC shares. Morgan Stanley cut shares of World Kinect from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $28.00 price target on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of World Kinect from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an "underperform" rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of World Kinect from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of World Kinect from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and reduced their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $32.00 in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two research 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's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $30.20.

World Kinect Trading Up 1.3 %

NYSE:WKC traded up $0.36 on Monday, reaching $28.35. 407,280 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 661,485. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 1.26. The business has a fifty day moving average of $29.39 and a 200-day moving average of $27.19. World Kinect Co. has a 52-week low of $19.81 and a 52-week high of $31.70.

World Kinect (NYSE:WKC - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.62. The company had revenue of $10.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.77 billion. World Kinect had a net margin of 0.30% and a return on equity of 6.29%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that World Kinect Co. will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current year.

World Kinect declared that its Board of Directors has approved a share buyback program on Monday, September 9th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 11% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are typically an indication that the company's board believes its stock is undervalued.

World Kinect Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.40%. World Kinect's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.22%.

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.