World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) Announces $0.17 Quarterly Dividend

World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) declared a quarterly dividend on Monday, December 16th,Wall Street Journal reports. Stockholders of record on Monday, December 23rd will be paid a dividend of 0.17 per share on Thursday, January 16th. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.41%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, December 23rd.

World Kinect has raised its dividend by an average of 11.9% per year over the last three years. World Kinect has a payout ratio of 27.8% meaning its dividend is sufficiently covered by earnings. Research analysts expect World Kinect to earn $2.45 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $0.68 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 27.8%.

World Kinect Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of World Kinect stock opened at $28.24 on Tuesday. 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 1 year low of $21.21 and a 1 year high of $31.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $28.79 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.88. The company has a market cap of $1.64 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.55, a P/E/G ratio of 1.12 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, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.62. The business had revenue of $10.49 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $11.77 billion. World Kinect had a net margin of 0.30% and a return on equity of 6.29%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 14.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.58 earnings per share. As a group, analysts expect that World Kinect will post 2.12 EPS for the current fiscal year.

World Kinect declared that its board has approved a stock repurchase plan on Monday, September 9th that authorizes the company to buyback $200.00 million in outstanding shares. This buyback authorization authorizes the company to purchase up to 11% of its stock through open market purchases. Stock buyback plans are often an indication that the company’s leadership believes its stock is undervalued.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

WKC has been the subject of a number of research reports. Morgan Stanley cut World Kinect from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating and set a $28.00 price objective for the company. in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Stifel Nicolaus cut World Kinect from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and lowered their price target for the company from $33.00 to $32.00 in a research note on Friday, October 25th. Bank of America increased 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. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of World Kinect from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Thursday, September 19th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, two have issued a hold rating and one has given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, World Kinect presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $30.20.

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.