World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) Price Target Cut to $26.00 by Analysts at Morgan Stanley

World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) had its target price decreased by Morgan Stanley from $32.00 to $26.00 in a report published on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an underweight rating on the stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on WKC. Raymond James Financial reiterated an “outperform” rating and issued a $33.00 target price (down previously from $35.00) on shares of World Kinect in a research note on Friday, August 1st. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of World Kinect from $27.00 to $26.00 and set an “underperform” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, April 25th. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have assigned a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, World Kinect currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $29.40.

World Kinect Stock Performance

NYSE:WKC opened at $25.12 on Wednesday. World Kinect has a 1 year low of $22.70 and a 1 year high of $31.70. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $28.05 and a 200-day moving average of $27.49. The company has a current ratio of 1.13, a quick ratio of 0.98 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.48. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.40 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 1.39.

World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The company reported $0.59 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.48 by $0.11. World Kinect had a negative net margin of 1.11% and a positive return on equity of 7.07%. The company had revenue of $9.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $9.32 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that World Kinect will post 2.56 EPS for the current fiscal year.

World Kinect Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, July 16th. Investors of record on Tuesday, June 17th were issued a $0.20 dividend. This is an increase from World Kinect’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.17. This represents a $0.80 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Tuesday, June 17th. World Kinect’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is -10.48%.

Institutional Trading of World Kinect

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of WKC. Sei Investments Co. increased its holdings in shares of World Kinect by 49.9% in the fourth quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 32,860 shares of the company’s stock valued at $904,000 after purchasing an additional 10,944 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in World Kinect by 16.0% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 42,448 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,168,000 after acquiring an additional 5,861 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in World Kinect during the 4th quarter worth $3,315,000. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its holdings in World Kinect by 76.5% during the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 17,836 shares of the company’s stock worth $491,000 after acquiring an additional 7,733 shares during the period. Finally, Russell Investments Group Ltd. grew its holdings in World Kinect by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd. now owns 54,743 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,506,000 after acquiring an additional 2,923 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.