World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) Sees Unusually-High Trading Volume – Here’s What Happened

Shares of World Kinect Corporation (NYSE:WKC) saw an uptick in trading volume on Thursday . 1,808,108 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 148% from the previous session’s volume of 728,201 shares.The stock last traded at $23.79 and had previously closed at $23.55.

Analyst Ratings Changes

WKC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Zacks Research downgraded World Kinect from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 28th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d+)” rating on shares of World Kinect in a report on Monday, December 8th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and three have assigned a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, World Kinect presently has a consensus rating of “Reduce” and a consensus price target of $28.75.

World Kinect Price Performance

The firm has a market cap of $1.32 billion, a PE ratio of -3.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 1.15. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.47, a current ratio of 1.15 and a quick ratio of 0.99. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $24.68 and its 200-day moving average price is $26.27.

World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, October 23rd. The company reported $0.54 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.61 by ($0.07). World Kinect had a positive return on equity of 7.11% and a negative net margin of 1.16%.The business had revenue of $9.39 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.38 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.62 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was down 10.5% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts expect that World Kinect Corporation 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 Friday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 15th will be given a $0.20 dividend. This represents a $0.80 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, December 15th. World Kinect’s payout ratio is currently -10.34%.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On World Kinect

Several large investors have recently bought and sold shares of WKC. First Horizon Advisors Inc. lifted its position in World Kinect by 188.4% in the second quarter. First Horizon Advisors Inc. now owns 998 shares of the company’s stock valued at $28,000 after acquiring an additional 652 shares during the last quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC raised its position in World Kinect by 52.8% during the third quarter. Clearstead Advisors LLC now owns 1,261 shares of the company’s stock worth $33,000 after acquiring an additional 436 shares during the last quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of World Kinect by 282.7% in the third quarter. Hantz Financial Services Inc. now owns 1,286 shares of the company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 950 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of World Kinect in the first quarter valued at approximately $38,000. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in shares of World Kinect by 27.6% during the 2nd quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,589 shares of the company’s stock worth $45,000 after purchasing an additional 344 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.06% 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.