Short Interest in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) Declines By 16.3%

Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) saw a large drop in short interest in the month of December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 599,900 shares, a drop of 16.3% from the November 30th total of 716,800 shares. Approximately 1.1% of the company’s stock are sold short. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 486,800 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 1.2 days.

Insider Activity

In other Kirby news, VP Ronald A. Dragg sold 2,313 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.30, for a total value of $294,444.90. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $978,045.90. This trade represents a 23.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, COO Christian G. O’neil sold 15,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $1,955,330.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,746 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,006,980. The trade was a 66.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,354 shares of company stock worth $3,275,455 in the last three months. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kirby

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KEX. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Kirby by 420.0% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 208 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Kirby during the second quarter valued at $26,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in Kirby during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new position in Kirby in the 2nd quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kirby in the 2nd quarter valued at about $38,000. 96.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kirby Stock Performance

Kirby stock traded up $0.06 during trading on Tuesday, hitting $105.80. The stock had a trading volume of 531,604 shares, compared to its average volume of 468,969. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $120.04 and its two-hundred day moving average is $119.86. Kirby has a 1 year low of $74.88 and a 1 year high of $132.21. The stock has a market cap of $6.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.31, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.18.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.08. Kirby had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 9.43%. The company had revenue of $831.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $824.42 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.05 EPS. Kirby’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts predict that Kirby will post 5.45 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report 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 presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.80.

Kirby Company Profile

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.