HighTower Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC)

HighTower Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 9,649 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $297,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in WKC. Innealta Capital LLC acquired a new position in World Kinect during the second quarter valued at approximately $65,000. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new stake in World Kinect during the 3rd quarter worth $76,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 1,189 shares in the last quarter. Privium Fund Management UK Ltd acquired a new position in World Kinect in the second quarter valued at about $208,000. Finally, Everence Capital Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of World Kinect in the third quarter worth about $210,000. 97.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

World Kinect Stock Down 0.3 %

NYSE WKC opened at $26.80 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.91, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.28. World Kinect Co. has a 1-year low of $21.21 and a 1-year high of $31.70. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The company has a 50 day moving average of $28.42 and a 200-day moving average of $27.93.

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

World Kinect declared that its Board of Directors has approved a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 9th that authorizes the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization authorizes the company to buy up to 11% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares repurchase plans are generally an indication that the company’s board of directors believes its shares are undervalued.

World Kinect Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.54%. World Kinect’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.22%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on WKC shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered World Kinect from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. 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. 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 research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Bank of America increased their target price on World Kinect from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.20.

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.