Pacer Advisors Inc. Takes Position in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC)

Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor purchased 4,490,655 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $138,806,000. Pacer Advisors Inc. owned about 7.73% of World Kinect at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in WKC. Sei Investments Co. raised its stake in shares of World Kinect by 25.6% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 23,468 shares of the company’s stock valued at $621,000 after purchasing an additional 4,776 shares during the period. ProShare Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in World Kinect by 7.4% during the 1st quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC now owns 12,062 shares of the company’s stock valued at $319,000 after acquiring an additional 829 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in World Kinect by 2.1% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,056,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,637,000 after acquiring an additional 146,899 shares during the period. Shell Asset Management Co. boosted its holdings in World Kinect by 19.0% during the 1st quarter. Shell Asset Management Co. now owns 10,614 shares of the company’s stock valued at $281,000 after acquiring an additional 1,697 shares during the period. Finally, PEAK6 Investments LLC purchased a new stake in World Kinect during the 1st quarter valued at about $392,000. 97.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

World Kinect Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:WKC opened at $28.02 on Thursday. World Kinect Co. has a 52-week low of $20.00 and a 52-week high of $31.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.45, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.26. The stock has a 50 day moving average price of $29.36 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.41. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.16.

World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.62. World Kinect had a return on equity of 6.29% and a net margin of 0.30%. The firm had revenue of $10.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.77 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.58 EPS. The business’s revenue was down 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that World Kinect Co. will post 2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

World Kinect declared that its board has authorized a share buyback plan on Monday, September 9th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to reacquire up to 11% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback plans are generally an indication that the company’s leadership believes its shares are undervalued.

World Kinect Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.43%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. World Kinect’s dividend payout ratio is currently 30.22%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms have weighed in on WKC. Bank of America increased their price objective on World Kinect from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley cut World Kinect from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $28.00 price objective for the company. in a report on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on World Kinect from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut World Kinect from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $32.00 in a report on Friday, October 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $30.20.

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.