Freestone Grove Partners LP Invests $472,000 in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Freestone Grove Partners LP purchased a new stake in shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX - Free Report) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund purchased 4,458 shares of the shipping company's stock, valued at approximately $472,000.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its stake in shares of Kirby by 27.5% in the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 142,265 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $17,418,000 after buying an additional 30,713 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its position in Kirby by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 415,042 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $43,911,000 after purchasing an additional 10,486 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kirby during the 4th quarter worth $18,749,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its position in shares of Kirby by 112.0% during the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 382,835 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $40,504,000 after purchasing an additional 202,272 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its stake in shares of Kirby by 24.3% in the 4th quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 29,659 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $3,143,000 after acquiring an additional 5,804 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.15% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Kirby

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 shares were sold at an average price of $107.61, for a total transaction of $133,866.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,697.45. This represents a 18.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several analysts have recently issued reports on KEX shares. Stifel Nicolaus reduced 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. StockNews.com downgraded Kirby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Bank of America dropped their target price on shares of Kirby from $133.00 to $123.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, March 28th.

Kirby Stock Performance

Shares of Kirby stock traded down $2.29 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $102.24. The company's stock had a trading volume of 463,421 shares, compared to its average volume of 539,602. The firm has a market cap of $5.82 billion, a PE ratio of 20.82, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $97.72 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $108.44. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Kirby Co. has a fifty-two week low of $83.94 and a fifty-two week high of $132.21.

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

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.