World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) Downgraded by Morgan Stanley

Morgan Stanley lowered shares of World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) from an equal weight rating to an underweight rating in a research report sent to investors on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $28.00 target price on the stock.

Several other research firms have also recently weighed in on WKC. Bank of America boosted their price target on World Kinect from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an underperform rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price on shares of World Kinect from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a buy rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and two have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of Hold and a consensus price target of $29.00.

World Kinect Price Performance

WKC stock opened at $30.23 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $1.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.51, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.98. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.52 and a 200 day simple moving average of $26.06. World Kinect has a 1 year low of $17.69 and a 1 year high of $30.78.

World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.56 by ($0.08). World Kinect had a return on equity of 6.26% and a net margin of 0.29%. The company had revenue of $10.97 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.98 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.48 earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down .1% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that World Kinect will post 2.15 EPS for the current fiscal year.

World Kinect Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, October 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, September 30th will be given a $0.17 dividend. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, September 30th. World Kinect’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 73.12%.

Insider Activity

In other World Kinect news, CEO Michael J. Kasbar sold 58,948 shares of World Kinect stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.92, for a total value of $1,645,828.16. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,019,063 shares in the company, valued at $28,452,238.96. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. 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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 1,019,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $28,452,238.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director John L. Manley sold 16,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 31st. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.28, for a total transaction of $452,480.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,614 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,403,083.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 2.90% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On World Kinect

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP acquired a new position in World Kinect during the 4th quarter valued at about $90,585,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP purchased a new position in shares of World Kinect during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $57,423,000. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. bought a new stake in World Kinect during the fourth quarter worth $28,874,000. Wells Fargo & Company MN purchased a new stake in World Kinect in the 4th quarter valued at $12,179,000. Finally, Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. bought a new position in World Kinect during the 2nd quarter valued at $12,207,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.06% of the company’s stock.

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.