NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan Purchases New Holdings in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC)

NJ State Employees Deferred Compensation Plan acquired a new stake in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund acquired 13,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $296,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Yousif Capital Management LLC bought a new stake in World Kinect during the fourth quarter worth about $927,000. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust bought a new position in World Kinect in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. New York State Common Retirement Fund acquired a new position in World Kinect during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $926,000. Illinois Municipal Retirement Fund bought a new stake in World Kinect during the fourth quarter worth $823,000. Finally, Duality Advisers LP acquired a new stake in shares of World Kinect in the 4th quarter valued at $796,000. 97.06% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

World Kinect Trading Down 6.8 %

NYSE:WKC traded down $1.68 on Friday, reaching $23.01. 918,849 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 545,123. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. World Kinect Co. has a 1-year low of $17.69 and a 1-year high of $26.83. The company’s 50 day moving average is $25.15 and its 200-day moving average is $22.83. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.22 and a beta of 1.26.

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, topping the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.04. The company had revenue of $12 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.23 billion. World Kinect had a net margin of 0.11% and a return on equity of 6.07%. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.54 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that World Kinect Co. will post 2.26 EPS for the current fiscal year.

World Kinect Increases Dividend

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

Insider Activity at World Kinect

In other World Kinect news, Director Paul H. Stebbins sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.37, for a total value of $487,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 75,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,836,888.75. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 2.60% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.