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

World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) shares saw unusually-high 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. Approximately 1,340,409 shares were traded during 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.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on WKC. Bank of America lifted their price target 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. Morgan Stanley cut shares of World Kinect from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $28.00 target price on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of World Kinect from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, World Kinect has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.40.

Insider Activity at World Kinect

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

Institutional Trading of World Kinect

Several hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Trexquant Investment LP acquired a new position in World Kinect during the 4th quarter worth $1,262,000. GSA Capital Partners LLP bought a new position in World Kinect in the fourth quarter valued at about $2,822,000. Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd bought a new position in World Kinect in the fourth quarter valued at about $455,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN acquired a new stake in World Kinect in the fourth quarter worth about $12,179,000. Finally, Boston Partners raised its holdings in World Kinect by 12.4% during the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,358,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,263,000 after purchasing an additional 149,433 shares during the last quarter. 97.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

World Kinect Trading Up 1.8 %

The company has a market capitalization of $1.88 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 33.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a current ratio of 1.15. The business’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.73 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.16.

World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 business had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.98 billion. World Kinect had a net margin of 0.29% and a return on equity of 6.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.48 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that World Kinect Co. will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

World Kinect Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.17%. World Kinect’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.12%.

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.