14,000 Shares in Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX) Purchased by Covea Finance

Covea Finance acquired a new stake in shares of Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX - Free Report) during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor acquired 14,000 shares of the shipping company's stock, valued at approximately $1,414,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KEX. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kirby during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Alberta Investment Management Corp bought a new position in Kirby in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $2,099,000. Ieq Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Kirby during the 4th quarter valued at $257,000. Handelsbanken Fonder AB boosted its stake in Kirby by 18.0% during the 4th quarter. Handelsbanken Fonder AB now owns 14,400 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $1,524,000 after purchasing an additional 2,200 shares during the last quarter. Finally, TCW Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kirby by 35.4% in the 4th quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 27,110 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $2,868,000 after purchasing an additional 7,082 shares in the last quarter. 96.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kirby Stock Performance

Shares of KEX stock opened at $112.28 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $105.80 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.04. Kirby Corporation has a 52 week low of $83.94 and a 52 week high of $132.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.30 billion, a PE ratio of 22.23, a P/E/G ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.97.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The shipping company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $785.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $824.12 million. Kirby had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 9.81%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Kirby Corporation will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, Bank of America upped their price target on Kirby from $116.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th.

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.

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