World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) Short Interest Down 18.8% in December

World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) was the recipient of a significant decrease in short interest during the month of December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 5,150,000 shares, a decrease of 18.8% from the December 15th total of 6,340,000 shares. Currently, 9.2% of the company’s stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 838,200 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 6.1 days.

World Kinect Trading Up 1.6 %

Shares of World Kinect stock traded up $0.44 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $28.10. 928,363 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 857,826. The company has a fifty day moving average of $27.98 and a 200-day moving average of $28.12. 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 has a 52-week low of $21.21 and a 52-week high of $31.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.63 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.49, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.28.

World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, October 24th. The company reported $0.62 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.62. The firm had revenue of $10.49 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.77 billion. World Kinect had a net margin of 0.30% and a return on equity of 6.29%. World Kinect’s revenue for the quarter was down 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.58 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts forecast that World Kinect will post 2.13 EPS for the current fiscal year.

World Kinect Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Investors of record on Monday, December 23rd were issued a $0.17 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $0.68 annualized dividend and a yield of 2.42%. World Kinect’s dividend payout ratio is presently 30.22%.

Institutional Trading of World Kinect

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in WKC. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new position in World Kinect in the 3rd quarter worth about $138,806,000. Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of World Kinect in the 4th quarter worth $50,707,000. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. bought a new position in shares of World Kinect during the 2nd quarter valued at about $12,207,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its position in World Kinect by 10.6% in the second quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 2,972,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,714,000 after buying an additional 284,560 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of World Kinect by 3.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,126,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,471,000 after acquiring an additional 140,314 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 97.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Stifel Nicolaus lowered shares of World Kinect from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their target price for the stock from $33.00 to $32.00 in a research report on Friday, October 25th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.20.

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.