Jefferies Financial Group Inc. Buys New Stake in World Kinect Corporation $WKC

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in World Kinect Corporation (NYSE:WKC) during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund bought 17,618 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $413,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. LSV Asset Management grew its position in shares of World Kinect by 11.4% in the 4th quarter. LSV Asset Management now owns 1,938,804 shares of the company’s stock valued at $45,426,000 after buying an additional 198,076 shares during the last quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP grew its position in World Kinect by 98.6% during the 4th quarter. GSA Capital Partners LLP now owns 96,774 shares of the company’s stock worth $2,267,000 after purchasing an additional 48,048 shares during the last quarter. Pacer Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in World Kinect during the 4th quarter worth $9,427,000. Versor Investments LP grew its position in World Kinect by 197.2% during the 4th quarter. Versor Investments LP now owns 30,310 shares of the company’s stock worth $710,000 after purchasing an additional 20,110 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strs Ohio grew its position in World Kinect by 46.5% during the 4th quarter. Strs Ohio now owns 31,500 shares of the company’s stock worth $738,000 after purchasing an additional 10,000 shares during the last quarter. 97.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

World Kinect Stock Up 1.3%

WKC stock opened at $28.84 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $1.48 billion, a P/E ratio of -2.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.59 and a beta of 1.22. World Kinect Corporation has a 52 week low of $22.21 and a 52 week high of $29.85. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $25.54 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.19. The company has a current ratio of 1.05, a quick ratio of 0.87 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.65.

World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, April 23rd. The company reported $0.75 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.31 by $0.44. The firm had revenue of $9.69 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $9.29 billion. World Kinect had a negative net margin of 1.53% and a positive return on equity of 8.27%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.48 earnings per share. World Kinect has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.650-2.850 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that World Kinect Corporation will post 2.79 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

World Kinect Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, April 16th. Investors of record on Monday, March 30th were issued a dividend of $0.20 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, March 30th. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.8%. World Kinect’s payout ratio is currently -7.84%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

WKC has been the topic of several research reports. Zacks Research raised shares of World Kinect from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of World Kinect from a “sell (d)” rating to a “sell (d+)” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 14th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of World Kinect from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock an “underweight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 5th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of World Kinect from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, May 2nd. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, one has issued a Buy rating and two have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.50.

Insider Activity at World Kinect

In related news, Chairman Michael J. Kasbar sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.11, for a total transaction of $271,100.00. Following the sale, the chairman owned 1,051,950 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,518,364.50. The trade was a 0.94% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director Richard A. Kassar sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, May 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.97, for a total transaction of $269,700.00. Following the sale, the director directly owned 53,812 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,451,309.64. This represents a 15.67% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold a total of 67,928 shares of company stock worth $1,878,484 in the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 3.80% of the company’s stock.

World Kinect Company Profile

World Kinect Energy Services, Inc (NYSE: WKC) is a global energy services company specializing in fuel procurement, supply chain management and risk mitigation solutions. The company offers an integrated platform that facilitates the sourcing, trading and logistics of refined fuels, natural gas, liquefied natural gas (LNG) and renewable energy products. Its services are designed to help industrial, commercial and institutional clients optimize energy costs, comply with environmental regulations and manage price volatility.

In addition to traditional commodity trading and delivery, World Kinect provides a suite of value-added services that include carbon offset and decarbonization strategies, energy efficiency consulting and emissions reporting.