Kirby Corporation $KEX Shares Acquired by SG Americas Securities LLC

SG Americas Securities LLC boosted its stake in Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX) by 285.0% during the third quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 8,817 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 6,527 shares during the quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC’s holdings in Kirby were worth $736,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its holdings in Kirby by 72.5% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,282,865 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $258,900,000 after purchasing an additional 959,209 shares in the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its stake in Kirby by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 2,165,929 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $245,638,000 after buying an additional 211,231 shares in the last quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Kirby by 32.4% in the 2nd quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,225,338 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $138,966,000 after buying an additional 299,981 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Kirby by 0.8% during the 2nd quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 802,865 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $91,053,000 after buying an additional 6,474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Kirby by 12.7% during the second quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 714,127 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $80,989,000 after acquiring an additional 80,315 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 29,451 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.41, for a total transaction of $3,163,331.91. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 79,709 shares in the company, valued at $8,561,543.69. This trade represents a 26.98% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Amy D. Husted sold 10,413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.42, for a total value of $1,118,564.46. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 11,760 shares in the company, valued at $1,263,259.20. This represents a 46.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 57,147 shares of company stock worth $6,204,544. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kirby Stock Up 0.9%

Shares of KEX opened at $127.00 on Wednesday. Kirby Corporation has a 52-week low of $79.51 and a 52-week high of $127.45. The company has a quick ratio of 1.08, a current ratio of 1.70 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $113.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $102.94. The company has a market capitalization of $6.88 billion, a PE ratio of 23.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.88.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The shipping company reported $1.65 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.05. Kirby had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.05%. The firm had revenue of $871.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $843.29 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. Kirby’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Kirby Corporation will post 6.57 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on KEX shares. BTIG Research lifted their price target on Kirby from $125.00 to $140.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 15th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Kirby in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kirby from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Evercore ISI raised their price target on shares of Kirby from $109.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 30th. Finally, Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Kirby from $131.00 to $145.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday. Six analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kirby presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $130.50.

Kirby Company Profile

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.