1,163,922 Shares in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) Acquired by River Road Asset Management LLC

River Road Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm purchased 1,163,922 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $26,514,000.

Other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Zurcher Kantonalbank Zurich Cantonalbank acquired a new stake in shares of World Kinect during the fourth quarter worth about $310,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp acquired a new stake in World Kinect in the 4th quarter valued at about $669,000. Investors Research Corp purchased a new position in shares of World Kinect during the 4th quarter worth approximately $151,000. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of World Kinect during the fourth quarter valued at $1,082,000. Finally, Louisiana State Employees Retirement System acquired a new stake in shares of World Kinect during the 4th quarter worth about $686,000. 97.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research analysts have recently weighed in on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. began coverage on shares of World Kinect in a report on Wednesday, February 21st. They set a “neutral” rating and a $25.00 price objective on the stock. Raymond James increased their price objective on shares of World Kinect from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America increased their price target on World Kinect from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Thursday, March 14th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and two have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.75.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Paul H. Stebbins sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.37, for a total value of $487,400.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 75,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,836,888.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 2.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

World Kinect Trading Down 0.7 %

Shares of WKC opened at $24.37 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. World Kinect Co. has a 1-year low of $17.69 and a 1-year high of $26.83. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.46 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.01, a P/E/G ratio of 2.19 and a beta of 1.26. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $25.01 and its 200 day moving average price is $22.70.

World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.54 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.50 by $0.04. World Kinect had a net margin of 0.11% and a return on equity of 6.07%. The firm had revenue of $12 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $12.23 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.54 earnings per share. Analysts expect that World Kinect Co. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current year.

World Kinect Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This is a positive change from World Kinect’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.79%. World Kinect’s payout ratio is currently 80.95%.

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.