Principal Financial Group Inc. Buys 56,952 Shares of World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC)

Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its stake in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 1,341,484 shares of the company’s stock after acquiring an additional 56,952 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in World Kinect were worth $41,465,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in WKC. Bank of Montreal Can boosted its holdings in World Kinect by 6.7% during the second quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 527,404 shares of the company’s stock worth $13,697,000 after purchasing an additional 33,332 shares during the last quarter. Algert Global LLC grew its holdings in shares of World Kinect by 88.0% in the 3rd quarter. Algert Global LLC now owns 138,560 shares of the company’s stock valued at $4,283,000 after acquiring an additional 64,867 shares in the last quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP grew its holdings in shares of World Kinect by 244.6% in the 3rd quarter. Quantbot Technologies LP now owns 86,746 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,681,000 after acquiring an additional 61,572 shares in the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its position in shares of World Kinect by 76.6% in the second quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 139,500 shares of the company’s stock valued at $3,599,000 after acquiring an additional 60,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new stake in World Kinect during the third quarter worth about $1,073,000. 97.06% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus downgraded World Kinect from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and cut their price objective for the company from $33.00 to $32.00 in a report on Friday, October 25th. Morgan Stanley downgraded shares of 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. Bank of America upped their target price on shares of World Kinect from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on World Kinect from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, September 19th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, World Kinect presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.20.

World Kinect Stock Performance

Shares of WKC stock opened at $26.80 on Tuesday. World Kinect Co. has a 52 week low of $21.21 and a 52 week high of $31.70. The company has a market capitalization of $1.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.91, a PEG ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.28. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $28.42 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.93. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share 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 for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.77 billion. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.58 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts predict that World Kinect Co. will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current year.

World Kinect Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, January 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.54%. World Kinect’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.22%.

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