Prudential Financial Inc. Sells 132,850 Shares of World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC)

Prudential Financial Inc. lessened its holdings in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) by 51.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 124,664 shares of the company’s stock after selling 132,850 shares during the quarter. Prudential Financial Inc. owned approximately 0.21% of World Kinect worth $3,430,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of World Kinect by 1.6% in the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 1,370,124 shares of the company’s stock worth $42,358,000 after purchasing an additional 22,077 shares during the last quarter. Hennessy Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of World Kinect during the fourth quarter worth approximately $50,707,000. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of World Kinect by 4.4% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,341,484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,465,000 after acquiring an additional 56,952 shares in the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its holdings in shares of World Kinect by 18.6% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 256,126 shares of the company’s stock valued at $7,918,000 after purchasing an additional 40,233 shares during the period. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. bought a new position in World Kinect in the fourth quarter worth approximately $2,055,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.06% of the company’s stock.

World Kinect Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE WKC opened at $28.42 on Wednesday. World Kinect Co. has a 12-month low of $21.38 and a 12-month high of $31.71. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $28.50 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $28.65. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a PE ratio of 26.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.16. The company has a current ratio of 1.16, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39.

World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, February 20th. The company reported $0.62 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.57 by $0.05. The company had revenue of $9.76 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $10.57 billion. World Kinect had a return on equity of 6.43% and a net margin of 0.16%. As a group, analysts expect that World Kinect Co. will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

World Kinect Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, April 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 31st will be given a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, March 31st. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.39%. World Kinect’s payout ratio is 64.15%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on World Kinect from $32.00 to $30.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, February 21st. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $29.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO Michael J. Kasbar sold 21,507 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.96, for a total value of $622,842.72. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,019,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $29,512,064.48. This trade represents a 2.07 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 2.90% 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.