Skylands Capital LLC Takes Position in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Skylands Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The institutional investor bought 33,950 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,592,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. Creative Planning lifted its position in shares of Kirby by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,683 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $818,000 after buying an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kirby by 158.4% during the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 765 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $92,000 after buying an additional 469 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC lifted its position in shares of Kirby by 72.7% during the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $189,000 after buying an additional 650 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Kirby by 12,142.9% during the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 26,567 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,253,000 after buying an additional 26,350 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Kirby by 47.6% during the 3rd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 139,102 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $17,030,000 after buying an additional 44,858 shares during the last quarter. 96.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts recently weighed in on the company. StockNews.com downgraded Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective 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 research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.25.

Kirby Price Performance

Shares of KEX opened at $102.68 on Monday. Kirby Co. has a 12-month low of $85.40 and a 12-month high of $132.21. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $107.40 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $116.57. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock has a market cap of $5.87 billion, a PE ratio of 20.91, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.19.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The shipping company reported $1.29 earnings per share (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%. Analysts anticipate that Kirby Co. will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

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

Kirby 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.