Hennessy Advisors Inc. Takes $50.71 Million Position in World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC)

Hennessy Advisors Inc. bought a new position in shares of World Kinect Co. (NYSE:WKC) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund bought 1,843,234 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $50,707,000. World Kinect accounts for approximately 1.5% of Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 20th biggest holding. Hennessy Advisors Inc. owned 3.17% of World Kinect as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Pacer Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in World Kinect during the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $138,806,000. Deprince Race & Zollo Inc. purchased a new position in shares of World Kinect during the 2nd quarter valued at about $12,207,000. Brandes Investment Partners LP lifted its holdings in shares of World Kinect by 10.6% in the 2nd quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP now owns 2,972,932 shares of the company’s stock valued at $76,714,000 after buying an additional 284,560 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of 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 buying an additional 140,314 shares during the last quarter. Finally, American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in World Kinect by 11.2% during the second quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 1,133,257 shares of the company’s stock worth $29,238,000 after acquiring an additional 113,711 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 97.06% of the company’s stock.

World Kinect Price Performance

World Kinect stock opened at $27.66 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 12.29, a P/E/G ratio of 0.91 and a beta of 1.28. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $27.98 and its 200 day moving average price is $28.11. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39, a quick ratio of 0.99 and a current ratio of 1.16. World Kinect Co. has a 1 year low of $21.21 and a 1 year high of $31.70.

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

World Kinect Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, January 16th. Shareholders of record on Monday, December 23rd were issued a dividend of $0.17 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, December 23rd. This represents a $0.68 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 2.46%. World Kinect’s payout ratio is currently 30.22%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms have commented on WKC. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on World Kinect from $29.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, September 19th. Stifel Nicolaus cut shares of World Kinect from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating and decreased their target price for the company 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 given a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock 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.