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

Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) by 4.4% in the third quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,341,484 shares of the company’s stock after buying an additional 56,952 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned about 2.31% of World Kinect worth $41,465,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of World Kinect in the third quarter worth about $138,806,000. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. bought a new position in World Kinect in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $12,207,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP raised its position in World Kinect by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 2,972,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,714,000 after purchasing an additional 284,560 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in World Kinect by 3.5% during the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,126,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,471,000 after buying an additional 140,314 shares in the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in World Kinect by 11.2% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,133,257 shares of the company’s stock valued at $29,238,000 after buying an additional 113,711 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 97.06% of the company’s stock.

World Kinect Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:WKC opened at $26.80 on Tuesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.42 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.93. World Kinect Co. has a fifty-two week low of $21.21 and a fifty-two week high of $31.70. The company has a market capitalization of $1.56 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 11.91, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 and a beta of 1.28. 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 (NYSE:WKC) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.62. World Kinect had a net margin of 0.30% and a return on equity of 6.29%. The company had revenue of $10.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.77 billion. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.58 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that World Kinect Co. will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current year.

World Kinect declared that its board has authorized a stock buyback plan on Monday, September 9th that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 11% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often a sign that the company’s board of directors believes its stock is undervalued.

World Kinect Announces Dividend

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently issued reports on WKC shares. Morgan Stanley lowered World Kinect from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $28.00 price target on the stock. in a research note on Monday, September 16th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price 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. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of World Kinect from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Finally, Bank of America increased their price objective 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. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, World Kinect has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.20.

World Kinect 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.