Louisiana State Employees Retirement System Makes New Investment in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC)

Louisiana State Employees Retirement System purchased a new position in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor purchased 30,100 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $686,000. Louisiana State Employees Retirement System owned approximately 0.05% of World Kinect as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the stock. EMC Capital Management bought a new position in shares of World Kinect in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $146,000. Mutual of America Capital Management LLC bought a new position in shares of World Kinect in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $240,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC bought a new position in shares of World Kinect in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Nisa Investment Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of World Kinect in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,421,000. Finally, Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in shares of World Kinect in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $642,000. Institutional investors own 97.06% of the company’s stock.

World Kinect Stock Performance

WKC stock opened at $23.01 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.38 billion, a PE ratio of 24.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.20 and a beta of 1.26. World Kinect Co. has a 12-month low of $17.69 and a 12-month high of $26.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.11, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.13 and its 200 day simple moving average is $22.84.

World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 22nd. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.50 by $0.04. The business had revenue of $12 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $12.23 billion. World Kinect had a return on equity of 6.39% and a net margin of 0.12%. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.54 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that World Kinect Co. will post 2.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

World Kinect Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, March 25th were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 2.96%. This is a boost from World Kinect’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. World Kinect’s dividend payout ratio is presently 73.12%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Paul H. Stebbins sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.37, for a total transaction of $487,400.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 75,375 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,836,888.75. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

World Kinect Company 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.