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

Empowered Funds LLC raised 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 fund owned 300,435 shares of the company’s stock after purchasing an additional 37,482 shares during the quarter. Empowered Funds LLC’s holdings in World Kinect were worth $9,286,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its holdings in World Kinect by 891.9% in the 1st quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 13,926 shares of the company’s stock valued at $368,000 after buying an additional 12,522 shares during the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. lifted its holdings in shares of World Kinect by 25.6% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 23,468 shares of the company’s stock worth $621,000 after purchasing an additional 4,776 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of World Kinect by 7.4% during the first quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 12,062 shares of the company’s stock worth $319,000 after purchasing an additional 829 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of World Kinect by 2.1% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,056,230 shares of the company’s stock worth $186,637,000 after purchasing an additional 146,899 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Shell Asset Management Co. increased its holdings in World Kinect by 19.0% in the first quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 10,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $281,000 after purchasing an additional 1,697 shares during the period. 97.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

World Kinect Stock Performance

NYSE:WKC opened at $27.85 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 1.16 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. World Kinect Co. has a twelve month low of $19.97 and a twelve month high of $31.70. The company has a fifty day moving average of $29.36 and a 200-day moving average of $27.26. The firm 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 (NYSE:WKC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.62. The firm had revenue of $10.49 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $11.77 billion. World Kinect had a net margin of 0.30% and a return on equity of 6.29%. The business’s revenue was down 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that World Kinect Co. will post 2.12 EPS for the current year.

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

World Kinect Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. World Kinect’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 30.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other World Kinect news, CEO Michael J. Kasbar sold 58,948 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,019,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,452,238.96. This represents a 5.47 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have commented on WKC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on World Kinect from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of World Kinect from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $32.00 in a report on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America boosted their price target on shares of World Kinect from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley cut 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.20.

World Kinect 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.