Bahl & Gaynor Inc. Makes New Investment in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC)

Bahl & Gaynor Inc. bought a new stake in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 276,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $6,294,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC purchased a new stake in World Kinect in the 4th quarter worth about $32,000. Allworth Financial LP purchased a new stake in shares of World Kinect in the fourth quarter worth approximately $35,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust purchased a new stake in shares of World Kinect in the fourth quarter worth approximately $45,000. SG Americas Securities LLC acquired a new stake in shares of World Kinect during the fourth quarter worth approximately $142,000. Finally, EMC Capital Management purchased a new position in World Kinect during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $146,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have issued reports on WKC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. initiated coverage on shares of World Kinect in a research report on Wednesday, February 21st. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $25.00 target price for the company. Raymond James increased their price objective on World Kinect from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Finally, Bank of America boosted their target price on World Kinect from $23.00 to $26.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 14th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, World Kinect currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $26.75.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Paul H. Stebbins sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.37, for a total transaction of $487,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 75,375 shares in the company, valued at $1,836,888.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 2.60% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

World Kinect Stock Performance

NYSE:WKC traded down $1.68 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $23.01. 918,849 shares of the company’s stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 548,162. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $25.13 and a two-hundred day moving average of $22.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.26. World Kinect Co. has a 12 month low of $17.69 and a 12 month high of $26.83.

World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.04. World Kinect had a return on equity of 6.07% and a net margin of 0.11%. The company had revenue of $12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.23 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.54 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts forecast that World Kinect Co. will post 2.26 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

World Kinect Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This is an increase from World Kinect’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. World Kinect’s payout ratio is presently 80.95%.

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.