Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Cuts Stake in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC cut its position in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) by 6.5% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The fund owned 59,606 shares of the company’s stock after selling 4,164 shares during the period. Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC’s holdings in World Kinect were worth $1,821,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in WKC. Pacer Advisors Inc. bought a new stake in shares of World Kinect in the third quarter worth approximately $138,806,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in World Kinect by 3.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 4,126,784 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,471,000 after purchasing an additional 140,314 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP grew its position in World Kinect by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 2,972,932 shares of the company’s stock worth $76,714,000 after purchasing an additional 284,560 shares during the period. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. raised its stake in World Kinect by 0.3% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 1,371,030 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,379,000 after buying an additional 4,201 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of World Kinect by 4.4% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,341,484 shares of the company’s stock valued at $41,465,000 after buying an additional 56,952 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 97.06% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America lifted their price objective on World Kinect from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on shares of World Kinect from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Morgan Stanley cut shares of World Kinect from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $28.00 target price for the company. in a report on Monday, September 16th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of World Kinect from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and dropped their price target for the stock from $33.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Two equities 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 stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $30.20.

World Kinect Trading Up 0.5 %

World Kinect stock opened at $28.43 on Wednesday. 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 Co. has a 12-month low of $20.00 and a 12-month high of $31.70. The firm has a market capitalization of $1.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 12.64, a P/E/G ratio of 1.10 and a beta of 1.28. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $28.94 and a 200 day moving average of $27.81.

World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) last announced its quarterly earnings data 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 the consensus estimate of $11.77 billion. World Kinect had a net margin of 0.30% and a return on equity of 6.29%. The company’s revenue was down 14.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.58 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that World Kinect Co. will post 2.12 earnings per share for the current year.

World Kinect announced that its board has initiated a stock repurchase program on Monday, September 9th that allows the company to buyback $200.00 million in shares. This buyback authorization allows the company to reacquire up to 11% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback programs are usually a sign that the company’s management believes its stock is undervalued.

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.