World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) Announces $0.17 Quarterly Dividend

World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, December 16th,Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be paid a dividend of 0.17 per share on Thursday, January 16th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 23rd.

World Kinect has raised its dividend payment by an average of 11.9% annually over the last three years. World Kinect has a dividend payout ratio of 27.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Equities research analysts expect World Kinect to earn $2.45 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 27.8%.

World Kinect Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of WKC traded down $0.03 during mid-day trading on Monday, hitting $28.24. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 846,631 shares, compared to its average volume of 656,801. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.64 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.43, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s 50-day moving average is $28.79 and its 200-day moving average is $27.88. 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 has a 52-week low of $21.21 and a 52-week high of $31.70.

World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62. World Kinect had a return on equity of 6.29% and a net margin of 0.30%. The company 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 business earned $0.58 earnings per share. World Kinect’s revenue was down 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts forecast that World Kinect will post 2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

World Kinect announced that its board has approved a share repurchase plan on Monday, September 9th that allows the company to repurchase $200.00 million in shares. This repurchase authorization allows the company to purchase up to 11% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock repurchase plans are typically an indication that the company’s board believes its stock is undervalued.

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.