First Hawaiian Bank Raises Position in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

First Hawaiian Bank lifted its stake in shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) by 17.2% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 23,524 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 3,459 shares during the period. First Hawaiian Bank’s holdings in Kirby were worth $2,489,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Kirby by 420.0% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 208 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kirby during the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kirby during the 2nd quarter worth $37,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in Kirby during the third quarter valued at about $42,000. Finally, Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Kirby during the third quarter worth about $52,000. Institutional investors own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.80.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kirby

In other news, VP Ronald A. Dragg sold 2,313 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.30, for a total value of $294,444.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $978,045.90. The trade was a 23.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard Ross Stewart sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.21, for a total value of $1,025,680.00. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 15,488 shares in the company, valued at $1,985,716.48. This trade represents a 34.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,354 shares of company stock valued at $3,275,455 in the last 90 days. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kirby Trading Up 1.0 %

Shares of KEX opened at $105.12 on Thursday. Kirby Co. has a fifty-two week low of $74.88 and a fifty-two week high of $132.21. The business has a 50-day moving average of $117.90 and a 200 day moving average of $119.33. The firm has a market cap of $6.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.67.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $831.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $824.42 million. Kirby had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 9.43%. The company’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Kirby Co. will post 5.45 EPS for the current year.

About Kirby

Kirby Corporation operates domestic tank barges in the United States. Its Marine Transportation segment provides marine transportation service and towing vessel transporting bulk liquid product, as well as operates tank barge throughout the Mississippi River System, on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, coastwise along three United States coasts, and in Alaska and Hawaii.