Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Purchases New Shares in Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX)

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management purchased a new stake in shares of Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm purchased 3,025 shares of the shipping company's stock, valued at approximately $306,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KEX. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Kirby by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 29,100 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $3,079,000 after acquiring an additional 1,331 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Kirby during the 4th quarter worth $349,000. LPL Financial LLC grew its holdings in Kirby by 43.8% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 7,054 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $746,000 after acquiring an additional 2,149 shares in the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. grew its holdings in Kirby by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 161,495 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $17,086,000 after acquiring an additional 19,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in Kirby by 6.8% during the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,781 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $188,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. 96.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Kirby Trading Up 0.2%

NYSE KEX opened at $95.50 on Monday. Kirby Corporation has a one year low of $83.94 and a one year high of $132.21. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $113.62 and a 200-day simple moving average of $106.20. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.58. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.36 billion, a PE ratio of 18.05, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.01.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $855.46 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $851.94 million. Kirby had a net margin of 9.25% and a return on equity of 10.07%. The company's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $1.43 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Kirby Corporation will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Kirby Company 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.

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