Covea Finance Takes $1.41 Million Position in Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX)

Covea Finance bought a new position in shares of Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm bought 14,000 shares of the shipping company's stock, valued at approximately $1,414,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Kirby in the 4th quarter worth approximately $74,293,000. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its holdings in Kirby by 59.0% during the fourth quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 1,565,693 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $165,650,000 after buying an additional 581,215 shares in 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 buying an additional 359,770 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its position in Kirby by 848.5% during the fourth quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 393,647 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $41,648,000 after buying an additional 352,144 shares during the period. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. increased its holdings in Kirby by 122.3% in the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 633,812 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $64,022,000 after buying an additional 348,665 shares in the last quarter. 96.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Bank of America increased their target price on shares of Kirby from $116.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Friday, May 16th.

Kirby Price Performance

Shares of Kirby stock traded down $1.16 on Wednesday, reaching $112.35. The company's stock had a trading volume of 544,232 shares, compared to its average volume of 539,854. 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 market capitalization of $6.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.25, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.97. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $106.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.02. Kirby Corporation has a 52-week low of $83.94 and a 52-week high of $132.21.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The shipping company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.06. The firm 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 revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.19 EPS. Analysts expect that Kirby Corporation 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.