Principal Street Partners LLC Raises Stock Position in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Principal Street Partners LLC boosted its position in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) by 24.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 5,284 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares during the quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC’s holdings in Kirby were worth $415,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kirby in the fourth quarter worth $53,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kirby in the 3rd quarter valued at about $59,000. AXQ Capital LP bought a new stake in shares of Kirby during the 3rd quarter valued at about $224,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kirby during the 3rd quarter valued at about $226,000. Finally, Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kirby during the third quarter worth about $239,000. 96.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kirby news, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total value of $1,537,920.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 66,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,673,130.56. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Kirby news, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total value of $1,537,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 66,399 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,673,130.56. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Richard Ross Stewart sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, February 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.62, for a total value of $256,860.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 21,660 shares in the company, valued at $1,854,529.20. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 43,179 shares of company stock valued at $3,968,537 over the last three months. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kirby Stock Performance

NYSE KEX opened at $114.97 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.18, a PEG ratio of 1.84 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $98.26 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $85.89. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.81 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Kirby Co. has a 12-month low of $69.22 and a 12-month high of $116.72.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last issued its earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The shipping company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.22. Kirby had a return on equity of 7.96% and a net margin of 8.01%. The company had revenue of $808.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $784.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.68 EPS. Kirby’s quarterly revenue was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts forecast that Kirby Co. will post 5.29 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on KEX shares. BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of Kirby from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Kirby in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $126.00 price objective on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on shares of Kirby from $100.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. Stephens restated an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Kirby in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, StockNews.com upgraded Kirby from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Kirby currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $116.00.

About Kirby

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.