Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 56,952 Shares of World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC - Free Report) by 4.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 1,341,484 shares of the company's stock after buying an additional 56,952 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 2.31% of World Kinect worth $41,465,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WKC. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System increased its position in World Kinect by 1.3% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 30,200 shares of the company's stock worth $779,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in World Kinect by 2.0% during the second quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 754,761 shares of the company's stock worth $19,473,000 after purchasing an additional 14,754 shares during the last quarter. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in shares of World Kinect in the 2nd quarter worth about $65,000. Versor Investments LP purchased a new stake in shares of World Kinect in the second quarter valued at about $228,000. Finally, Privium Fund Management UK Ltd purchased a new position in shares of World Kinect during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $208,000. 97.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts have issued reports on WKC shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price 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. Bank of America upped their price target on World Kinect from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an "underperform" rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of World Kinect from an "equal weight" rating to an "underweight" rating and set a $28.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered World Kinect from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lowered their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $30.20.

World Kinect Stock Performance

NYSE:WKC traded up $0.44 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $27.24. 287,861 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 686,366. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $28.42 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.93. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.28. World Kinect Co. has a twelve month low of $21.21 and a twelve month 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 for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.62. World Kinect had a net margin of 0.30% and a return on equity of 6.29%. The company had revenue of $10.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.77 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.58 EPS. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, analysts expect that World Kinect Co. will post 2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

World Kinect announced that its board has authorized a share buyback program on Monday, September 9th that permits the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization permits the company to repurchase up to 11% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are generally a sign that the company's board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

World Kinect Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.50%. World Kinect's payout ratio is presently 30.22%.

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.