Vest Financial LLC Buys New Shares in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC)

Vest Financial LLC acquired a new stake in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 59,221 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $1,680,000. Vest Financial LLC owned 0.10% of World Kinect at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. GAMMA Investing LLC grew its position in World Kinect by 3,742.0% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 35,308 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,001,000 after purchasing an additional 34,389 shares in the last quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH acquired a new stake in shares of World Kinect during the 4th quarter worth about $1,725,000. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its position in World Kinect by 5.1% during the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 20,252 shares of the company's stock worth $557,000 after acquiring an additional 990 shares during the period. GF Fund Management CO. LTD. bought a new position in World Kinect during the fourth quarter worth about $505,000. Finally, Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio increased its position in World Kinect by 23.5% during the fourth quarter. Public Employees Retirement System of Ohio now owns 61,265 shares of the company's stock worth $1,685,000 after acquiring an additional 11,640 shares during the period. 97.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts recently commented on the stock. Bank of America lowered their price target on shares of World Kinect from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an "underperform" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, April 25th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of World Kinect from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st.

World Kinect Trading Up 1.9%

NYSE:WKC traded up $0.53 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $28.04. 603,244 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 782,288. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $25.90 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.45. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. World Kinect Co. has a fifty-two week low of $22.71 and a fifty-two week high of $31.71. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.59 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.45, a PEG ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.35.

World Kinect (NYSE:WKC - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.45 by $0.03. The business had revenue of $9.45 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $10.47 billion. World Kinect had a net margin of 0.16% and a return on equity of 6.43%. The firm's revenue was down 13.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.47 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that World Kinect Co. will post 2.56 earnings per share for the current year.

World Kinect Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, July 16th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be given a $0.20 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Tuesday, June 17th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.85%. This is an increase from World Kinect's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. World Kinect's payout ratio is 283.33%.

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.