Empowered Funds LLC Buys 37,482 Shares of World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC)

Empowered Funds LLC lifted its position in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) by 14.3% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. 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 about 0.52% of World Kinect worth $9,286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in WKC. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new position in shares of World Kinect in the 2nd quarter valued at about $65,000. Hara Capital LLC bought a new position in World Kinect during the third quarter worth about $76,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its position in World Kinect by 20.7% during the second quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 6,927 shares of the company’s stock worth $179,000 after buying an additional 1,189 shares during the last quarter. Privium Fund Management UK Ltd bought a new stake in World Kinect in the second quarter valued at approximately $208,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of World Kinect in the third quarter valued at approximately $210,000. 97.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on WKC. Bank of America increased their price target on World Kinect from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of World Kinect from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of World Kinect from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Morgan Stanley lowered 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 note on Monday, September 16th. 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 company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.20.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Michael J. Kasbar sold 58,948 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.92, for a total transaction 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 represents a 5.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

World Kinect Stock Up 0.1 %

WKC opened at $27.85 on Friday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $29.36 and a 200-day moving average of $27.26. The company 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 Co. has a fifty-two week low of $19.97 and a fifty-two week high of $31.70. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.16.

World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62. World Kinect had a net margin of 0.30% and a return on equity of 6.29%. The firm had revenue of $10.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.77 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.58 EPS. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts expect that World Kinect Co. will post 2.12 EPS for the current year.

World Kinect Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.44%. World Kinect’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.22%.

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

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.