Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. Makes New $642,000 Investment in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC)

Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. bought a new position in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm bought 28,193 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $642,000.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of WKC. Vanguard Group Inc. purchased a new stake in World Kinect in the third quarter worth $157,793,000. Exchange Traded Concepts LLC bought a new position in shares of World Kinect in the fourth quarter worth $777,000. Nordea Investment Management AB bought a new position in shares of World Kinect in the fourth quarter worth $3,843,000. North Star Investment Management Corp. bought a new position in shares of World Kinect in the fourth quarter worth $1,139,000. Finally, Legacy Wealth Asset Management LLC bought a new position in shares of World Kinect in the fourth quarter worth $208,000. 97.06% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling at World Kinect

In other World Kinect news, Director Paul H. Stebbins sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 29th. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.37, for a total transaction of $487,400.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 75,375 shares in the company, valued at $1,836,888.75. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Company insiders own 2.60% of the company’s stock.

World Kinect Price Performance

NYSE:WKC opened at $24.68 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.48 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.38, a P/E/G ratio of 2.24 and a beta of 1.26. World Kinect Co. has a 52-week low of $17.69 and a 52-week high of $26.83. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $25.15 and a 200 day moving average of $22.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.42, a quick ratio of 0.95 and a current ratio of 1.11.

World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) last posted 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. World Kinect had a return on equity of 6.07% and a net margin of 0.11%. The company had revenue of $12 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $12.23 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.54 earnings per share. On average, research analysts expect that World Kinect Co. will post 2.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

World Kinect Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, April 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, March 25th were given a dividend of $0.17 per share. This is an increase from World Kinect’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.14. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Friday, March 22nd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 2.76%. World Kinect’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 80.95%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

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.