Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. Cuts Position in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC)

Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc. cut its position in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) by 51.3% in the third quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor owned 23,067 shares of the company’s stock after selling 24,281 shares during the period. Cornercap Investment Counsel Inc.’s holdings in World Kinect were worth $713,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Hara Capital LLC acquired a new position in World Kinect in the 3rd quarter valued at about $76,000. Innealta Capital LLC purchased a new stake in World Kinect during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $65,000. Everence Capital Management Inc. acquired a new stake in World Kinect during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $210,000. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. boosted its position in World Kinect by 20.7% in the 2nd quarter. Point72 Asia Singapore Pte. Ltd. now owns 6,927 shares of the company’s stock valued at $179,000 after buying an additional 1,189 shares during the period. Finally, Highland Capital Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of World Kinect in the third quarter worth $253,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.06% of the company’s stock.

World Kinect Stock Performance

Shares of World Kinect stock opened at $27.85 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.62 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.38, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.26. 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 Co. has a 52 week low of $19.97 and a 52 week high of $31.70. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $29.36 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.26.

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

World Kinect announced that its Board of Directors has authorized a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 9th that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to buy up to 11% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s board believes its shares are undervalued.

World Kinect Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 16th. Investors of record on Monday, September 30th were paid a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.44%. World Kinect’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.22%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO Michael J. Kasbar sold 58,948 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,019,063 shares in the company, valued at $28,452,238.96. This represents a 5.47 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. 2.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WKC has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted 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. Bank of America lifted their price target 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 downgraded shares of World Kinect from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $28.00 price objective on the stock. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of World Kinect from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their price objective for the stock from $33.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, World Kinect presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.20.

World Kinect Company Profile

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.