World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) to Issue Dividend Increase - $0.20 Per Share

World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC - Get Free Report) announced a quarterly dividend on Thursday, June 5th, RTT News reports. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, June 17th will be paid a dividend of 0.20 per share on Wednesday, July 16th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.91%. This is a 17.6% increase from World Kinect's previous quarterly dividend of $0.17.

World Kinect has increased its dividend payment by an average of 12.3% per year over the last three years and has increased its dividend annually for the last 6 consecutive years. World Kinect has a dividend payout ratio of 23.0% indicating that its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities analysts expect World Kinect to earn $3.09 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 22.0%.

World Kinect Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of WKC stock traded up $0.04 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $27.50. 566,503 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 778,214. The stock's fifty day simple moving average is $25.92 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.45. World Kinect has a 1-year low of $22.71 and a 1-year high of $31.71. The company has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.34. 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 (NYSE:WKC - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 24th. The company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.45 by $0.03. The firm had revenue of $9.45 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.47 billion. World Kinect had a return on equity of 6.43% and a net margin of 0.16%. The business's revenue for the quarter was down 13.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.47 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that World Kinect will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On World Kinect

Institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in World Kinect by 4.6% in the first quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 33,972 shares of the company's stock valued at $963,000 after buying an additional 1,497 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC lifted its stake in World Kinect by 95.5% in the first quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 47,437 shares of the company's stock valued at $1,345,000 after buying an additional 23,176 shares during the period. Royal Bank of Canada raised its position in shares of World Kinect by 2.2% during the first quarter. Royal Bank of Canada now owns 68,228 shares of the company's stock worth $1,934,000 after purchasing an additional 1,481 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of World Kinect by 16.5% during the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 119,198 shares of the company's stock worth $3,380,000 after purchasing an additional 16,874 shares during the period. Finally, UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC raised its position in shares of World Kinect by 18.7% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 220,791 shares of the company's stock worth $6,262,000 after purchasing an additional 34,807 shares during the period. 97.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.

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