World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) Rating Lowered to Underweight at Morgan Stanley

World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) was downgraded by analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “equal weight” rating to an “underweight” rating in a research report issued to clients and investors on Monday, Marketbeat.com reports. They currently have a $28.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley’s target price indicates a potential downside of 7.01% from the company’s current price.

A number of other analysts have also recently weighed in on the stock. Bank of America boosted their price objective on shares of World Kinect from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “underperform” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of World Kinect from $35.00 to $33.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, July 26th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, one has given a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has an average rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $29.00.

World Kinect Price Performance

NYSE WKC opened at $30.11 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.98, a current ratio of 1.15 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market capitalization of $1.80 billion, a PE ratio of 32.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 1.24. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $27.42 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $26.04. World Kinect has a 12-month low of $17.69 and a 12-month high of $30.14.

World Kinect (NYSE:WKC) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 25th. The company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.56 by ($0.08). The business had revenue of $10.97 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $11.98 billion. World Kinect had a net margin of 0.29% and a return on equity of 6.26%. World Kinect’s revenue was down .1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.48 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts predict that World Kinect will post 2.15 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at World Kinect

In related news, Director John L. Manley sold 16,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.28, for a total transaction of $452,480.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 49,614 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,403,083.92. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In other World Kinect news, CEO Michael J. Kasbar sold 58,948 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, August 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.92, for a total value of $1,645,828.16. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 1,019,063 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $28,452,238.96. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, Director John L. Manley sold 16,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 31st. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.28, for a total transaction of $452,480.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 49,614 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,403,083.92. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 2.90% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On World Kinect

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in World Kinect by 2.1% in the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 7,056,230 shares of the company’s stock valued at $186,637,000 after buying an additional 146,899 shares during the period. 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 purchasing an additional 140,314 shares during the last quarter. Brandes Investment Partners LP grew 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 worth $76,714,000 after purchasing an additional 284,560 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of World Kinect by 3.4% in the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 1,631,393 shares of the company’s stock worth $43,150,000 after purchasing an additional 52,930 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Boston Partners grew its holdings in shares of World Kinect by 12.4% in the 1st quarter. Boston Partners now owns 1,358,173 shares of the company’s stock worth $35,263,000 after purchasing an additional 149,433 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors 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.