Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. Sells 75,776 Shares of World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC)

Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc. cut its holdings in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) by 7.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 902,847 shares of the company’s stock after selling 75,776 shares during the period. Jacobs Levy Equity Management Inc.’s holdings in World Kinect were worth $27,907,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD boosted its stake in World Kinect by 3.1% during the first quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD now owns 133,378 shares of the company’s stock worth $3,529,000 after buying an additional 4,060 shares during the period. SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in shares of World Kinect by 1,182.1% during the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 49,273 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,271,000 after purchasing an additional 45,430 shares during the period. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System grew its holdings in World Kinect by 1.3% during the 2nd quarter. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System now owns 30,200 shares of the company’s stock valued at $779,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in World Kinect by 2.0% in the 2nd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 754,761 shares of the company’s stock worth $19,473,000 after purchasing an additional 14,754 shares during the period. Finally, Legato Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in World Kinect by 19.5% in the second quarter. Legato Capital Management LLC now owns 47,454 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,224,000 after purchasing an additional 7,755 shares during the last quarter. 97.06% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

World Kinect Stock Performance

WKC stock opened at $29.22 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.16 and a quick ratio of 0.99. World Kinect Co. has a 1-year low of $20.00 and a 1-year high of $31.70. The business has a 50-day moving average price of $29.16 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.68. The company has a market capitalization of $1.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.99, a PEG ratio of 1.14 and a beta of 1.28.

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

World Kinect Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, October 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, September 30th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, September 30th. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.33%. World Kinect’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 30.22%.

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

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WKC has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley downgraded 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. Bank of America raised 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of World Kinect from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered 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 research report on Friday, October 25th. Two 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’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $30.20.

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.