Aristides Capital LLC Acquires Shares of 2,811 Kirby Corporation $KEX

Key Points

• Aristides Capital LLC acquired 2,811 shares of Kirby Corporation (NYSE: KEX), valued around $284,000, in the first quarter.
• Bank of America raised its price target for Kirby shares from $116.00 to $125.00 and maintains a "buy" rating, with an average price target of $130.00 among analysts.
• The company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, exceeding estimates, with a net margin of 9.25% and revenue growth of 3.8% year-over-year.

Aristides Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm purchased 2,811 shares of the shipping company's stock, valued at approximately $284,000.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its holdings in Kirby by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 394 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in Kirby by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 36,597 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $3,697,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in Kirby by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 13,035 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp boosted its holdings in Kirby by 0.5% in the 4th quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 29,047 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $3,073,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in Kirby by 28.7% in the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 668 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares during the period. 96.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Bank of America raised their price objective on shares of Kirby from $116.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th. Two analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Buy" and a consensus target price of $130.00.

Kirby Price Performance

Shares of Kirby stock traded down $0.14 on Friday, hitting $97.30. 761,335 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 730,824. The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $108.32 and its 200 day simple moving average is $104.83. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The company has a market cap of $5.43 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.39, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.01. Kirby Corporation has a 12-month low of $83.94 and a 12-month high of $132.21.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $855.46 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $851.94 million. Kirby had a net margin of 9.25% and a return on equity of 10.02%. The business's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $1.43 EPS. Analysts expect that Kirby Corporation will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.