Kirby Corporation $KEX Shares Purchased by Intech Investment Management LLC

Intech Investment Management LLC boosted its holdings in Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX) by 239.4% during the third quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 15,762 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 11,118 shares during the period. Intech Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Kirby were worth $1,315,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kirby by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,667,853 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $472,982,000 after purchasing an additional 134,261 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. grew its stake in Kirby by 72.5% during the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,282,865 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $258,900,000 after buying an additional 959,209 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. increased its position in Kirby by 10.8% in the second quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 2,165,929 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $245,638,000 after buying an additional 211,231 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its position in Kirby by 8.5% in the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 1,570,001 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $131,017,000 after buying an additional 122,733 shares during the period. Finally, Encompass Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Kirby by 32.4% in the second quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,225,338 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $138,966,000 after buying an additional 299,981 shares during the last quarter. 96.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KEX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Kirby from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Kirby from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 18th. BTIG Research dropped their price target on shares of Kirby from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, January 29th. Zacks Research cut Kirby from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Thursday, February 12th. Finally, Wolfe Research reiterated an “outperform” rating and set a $136.00 price objective on shares of Kirby in a research report on Friday, January 30th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.40.

Kirby Stock Performance

Shares of KEX opened at $127.62 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $124.34 and its 200-day moving average is $106.99. Kirby Corporation has a 12-month low of $79.51 and a 12-month high of $134.69. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.16, a P/E/G ratio of 1.17 and a beta of 0.83.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 29th. The shipping company reported $1.68 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $851.78 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $857.82 million. Kirby had a net margin of 10.54% and a return on equity of 10.53%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $1.29 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kirby Corporation will post 6.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Kirby

In other news, CFO Raj Kumar sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total transaction of $398,100.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,353.80. This represents a 40.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Amy D. Husted sold 11,667 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $129.33, for a total value of $1,508,893.11. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 14,814 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,915,894.62. This trade represents a 44.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 82,640 shares of company stock worth $10,470,847. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

About Kirby

Kirby Corporation is a leading domestic maritime transporter of bulk liquid products in the United States. Through its Marine Transportation segment, the company operates one of North America’s largest fleets of inland tank barges and towing vessels. Kirby’s fleet moves petrochemicals, black oil, refined petroleum products and agricultural chemicals along coastal and inland waterways, providing critical logistical support to energy, chemical and agricultural producers.

In addition to its marine operations, Kirby’s Distribution and Services segment offers diesel engine and power generation services, along with aftermarket parts sales.