King Luther Capital Management Corp Trims Stake in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

King Luther Capital Management Corp reduced its position in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) by 2.3% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,550,410 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 36,273 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp’s holdings in Kirby were worth $164,033,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of KEX. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kirby by 34.9% in the 3rd quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 2,532 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $310,000 after purchasing an additional 655 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Kirby by 420.0% during the 3rd 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 during the period. Robeco Institutional Asset Management B.V. purchased a new stake in Kirby during the 3rd quarter valued at about $871,000. Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in Kirby by 27.5% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 35,353 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $4,328,000 after acquiring an additional 7,629 shares during the period. Finally, Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. boosted its holdings in Kirby by 19.1% during the 3rd quarter. Crossmark Global Holdings Inc. now owns 4,539 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $556,000 after acquiring an additional 729 shares during the period. 96.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Kirby news, VP Scott P. Miller sold 1,244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.61, for a total transaction of $133,866.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 5,545 shares in the company, valued at $596,697.45. This represents a 18.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Kirby Stock Performance

KEX stock opened at $95.15 on Tuesday. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $105.84 and its 200-day moving average price is $115.25. Kirby Co. has a 1 year low of $86.02 and a 1 year high of $132.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a market cap of $5.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.18.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The shipping company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by ($0.01). Kirby had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 8.78%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Kirby Co. will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. StockNews.com lowered Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on Kirby from $136.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.25.

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.