World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) Shares Gap Up on Better-Than-Expected Earnings

World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC - Get Free Report) shares gapped up before the market opened on Friday following a better than expected earnings announcement. The stock had previously closed at $27.60, but opened at $29.70. World Kinect shares last traded at $29.95, with a volume of 242,683 shares.

The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.57 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $9.76 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.57 billion. World Kinect had a net margin of 0.16% and a return on equity of 6.43%.

World Kinect Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.26%. World Kinect's dividend payout ratio is currently 64.15%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on World Kinect from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a research report on Friday. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given 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 an average price target of $29.80.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On World Kinect

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. HHM Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in World Kinect during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Wilmington Savings Fund Society FSB bought a new position in shares of World Kinect during the third quarter valued at approximately $31,000. Quarry LP raised its holdings in shares of World Kinect by 3,600.0% in the third quarter. Quarry LP now owns 1,073 shares of the company's stock worth $33,000 after buying an additional 1,044 shares during the period. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new position in World Kinect during the 4th quarter valued at $48,000. Finally, Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in World Kinect in the 4th quarter valued at $74,000. Institutional investors own 97.06% of the company's stock.

World Kinect Stock Down 1.5 %

The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.94 and a 200 day simple moving average of $28.52. The company has a market cap of $1.75 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.41, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.27. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

About World Kinect

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.