HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC Has $22.50 Million Position in Kirby Corporation $KEX

Key Points

• HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Kirby Corporation by 125.6% in Q1, now holding 222,732 shares valued at approximately $22.5 million.
• Several other hedge funds also boosted their positions, with Select Equity Group L.P. and First Trust Advisors LP increasing their holdings significantly during the last quarters.
• Kirby Corporation reported a quarterly EPS of $1.67, outperforming analysts' expectations, with revenue rising 3.8% year-over-year.

HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC increased its stake in shares of Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX - Free Report) by 125.6% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 222,732 shares of the shipping company's stock after buying an additional 124,014 shares during the period. Kirby accounts for about 1.4% of HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC's portfolio, making the stock its 25th largest holding. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC owned 0.39% of Kirby worth $22,498,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kirby by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 132,089 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $13,342,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kirby by 28.7% during the 1st quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 668 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $67,000 after buying an additional 149 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. boosted its holdings in Kirby by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 77,641 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $7,842,000 after purchasing an additional 3,924 shares during the period. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its holdings in Kirby by 53.4% in the 1st quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 672 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares during the period. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC boosted its holdings in Kirby by 30.9% in the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 11,075 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $1,119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,616 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.15% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Kirby Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KEX traded down $0.9480 during midday trading on Wednesday, hitting $97.5520. The stock had a trading volume of 395,949 shares, compared to its average volume of 887,215. The company's 50-day moving average price is $110.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $105.28. The company has a market capitalization of $5.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 18.44, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.01. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. Kirby Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $83.94 and a fifty-two week high of $132.21.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX - Get Free Report) last issued its 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 company had revenue of $855.46 million during 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 revenue for the quarter was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $1.43 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Kirby Corporation will post 6.57 EPS for the current fiscal 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.