Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC Acquires New Position in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Kovitz Investment Group Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm bought 4,200 shares of the shipping company's stock, valued at approximately $444,000.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KEX. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Kirby by 1.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,762,651 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $186,488,000 after buying an additional 28,259 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Kirby by 69.7% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 876,292 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $92,712,000 after purchasing an additional 359,770 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new position in Kirby in the fourth quarter valued at $74,293,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. increased its stake in Kirby by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 525,708 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $55,620,000 after buying an additional 48,475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp lifted its position in Kirby by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 415,042 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $43,911,000 after buying an additional 10,486 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.15% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently issued reports on KEX shares. 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 on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America cut their price objective on Kirby from $133.00 to $123.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th.

Insider Transactions at Kirby

In other Kirby news, VP Scott P. Miller sold 1,244 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were 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 directly owns 5,545 shares in the company, valued at $596,697.45. This trade represents a 18.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kirby Stock Performance

NYSE:KEX traded down $2.59 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $101.94. The stock had a trading volume of 240,051 shares, compared to its average volume of 538,709. Kirby Co. has a twelve month low of $83.94 and a twelve month high of $132.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.45. The stock has a market cap of $5.80 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.76, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.91. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $97.72 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.44.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The shipping company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.06. Kirby had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 8.78%. The business had revenue of $785.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $824.12 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Kirby Co. will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current year.

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.