D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. Raises Stock Position in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its position in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX - Free Report) by 14.1% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 815,008 shares of the shipping company's stock after acquiring an additional 100,655 shares during the period. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. owned 1.42% of Kirby worth $86,228,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Kirby in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Colonial Trust Co SC grew its position in Kirby by 295.3% during the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 253 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 189 shares during the period. LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kirby during the 4th quarter worth $63,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Kirby during the fourth quarter valued at $76,000. Finally, Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Kirby during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $133,000. 96.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages have issued reports on KEX. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Kirby from $136.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America decreased their price target on shares of Kirby from $133.00 to $123.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th.

Kirby Stock Performance

Shares of KEX traded up $0.37 during trading hours on Wednesday, hitting $108.90. The stock had a trading volume of 305,175 shares, compared to its average volume of 614,987. The firm has a 50-day moving average price of $98.25 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.79. Kirby Co. has a fifty-two week low of $83.94 and a fifty-two week high of $132.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.20 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.18, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.45.

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

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.