World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume After Analyst Upgrade

World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) saw strong trading volume on Friday after JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on the stock from $29.00 to $32.00. JPMorgan Chase & Co. currently has a neutral rating on the stock. 1,340,409 shares were traded during mid-day trading, an increase of 135% from the previous session’s volume of 571,380 shares.The stock last traded at $31.30 and had previously closed at $30.85.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on WKC. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of World Kinect from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on World Kinect from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut World Kinect from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $28.00 target price for the company. in a research report on Monday. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.40.

Insider Transactions at World Kinect

In other World Kinect news, Director John L. Manley sold 16,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.28, for a total transaction of $452,480.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 49,614 shares in the company, valued at $1,403,083.92. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. In other World Kinect news, Director John L. Manley sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.28, for a total transaction of $452,480.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,614 shares in the company, valued at $1,403,083.92. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Michael J. Kasbar sold 58,948 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,019,063 shares in the company, valued at $28,452,238.96. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On World Kinect

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WKC. Innealta Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of World Kinect during the second quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Assetmark Inc. bought a new stake in shares of World Kinect during the 4th quarter valued at $96,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. purchased a new position in World Kinect during the 4th quarter valued at about $148,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its position in 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 period. Finally, Privium Fund Management UK Ltd bought a new stake in World Kinect during the second quarter worth about $208,000. 97.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

World Kinect Trading Up 1.1 %

The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.62 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.10. The firm has a market cap of $1.87 billion, a PE ratio of 33.18, a PEG ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.08). The company had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.98 billion. World Kinect had a return on equity of 6.26% and a net margin of 0.29%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.48 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that World Kinect Co. will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

World Kinect Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.18%. World Kinect’s payout ratio is presently 73.12%.

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.