Stifel Nicolaus Downgrades World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) to Hold

World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) was downgraded by equities research analysts at Stifel Nicolaus from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report issued on Friday, MarketBeat reports. They currently have a $32.00 price target on the stock, down from their prior price target of $33.00. Stifel Nicolaus’ price objective indicates a potential upside of 21.21% from the stock’s current price.

Other equities research analysts also recently issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America increased their target price on shares of World Kinect from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note 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 research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on World Kinect from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.20.

World Kinect Trading Down 15.8 %

WKC opened at $26.40 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. World Kinect has a 52 week low of $17.69 and a 52 week high of $31.70. The business’s 50 day moving average is $29.63 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.04. The firm has a market cap of $1.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.25.

World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62. The business had revenue of $10.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.77 billion. World Kinect had a net margin of 0.29% and a return on equity of 6.26%. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.58 EPS. On average, research analysts predict that World Kinect will post 2.15 EPS for the current year.

World Kinect declared that its Board of Directors has initiated a share repurchase program on Monday, September 9th that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to repurchase up to 11% of its shares through open market purchases. Shares buyback programs are often an indication that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

Insider Activity

In related news, CEO Michael J. Kasbar sold 58,948 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.92, for a total transaction of $1,645,828.16. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 1,019,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,452,238.96. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other World Kinect news, CEO Michael J. Kasbar sold 58,948 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.92, for a total transaction of $1,645,828.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,019,063 shares in the company, valued at approximately $28,452,238.96. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director John L. Manley sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.28, for a total transaction of $452,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 49,614 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,403,083.92. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On World Kinect

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System raised its holdings in World Kinect by 1.3% during the second quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 30,200 shares of the company’s stock worth $779,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp raised its stake in shares of World Kinect by 1.3% during the 1st quarter. Texas Permanent School Fund Corp now owns 52,688 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,394,000 after buying an additional 682 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of World Kinect by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 70,091 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,808,000 after buying an additional 773 shares in the last quarter. ProShare Advisors LLC grew its stake in World Kinect by 7.4% in 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 last quarter. Finally, Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. increased its holdings in World Kinect by 20.7% during the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 6,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,000 after acquiring an additional 1,189 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.06% of the company’s stock.

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.