King Luther Capital Management Corp Has $178.17 Million Stake in Kirby Corporation $KEX

Key Points

• King Luther Capital Management boosted its Kirby position by 3.0% in the fourth quarter, ending with 1,617,100 shares valued at about $178.2 million.
• Wall Street remains broadly positive on Kirby: the stock has a consensus Moderate Buy rating, with a $146.20 average price target despite a couple of recent downgrades.
• Kirby reported better-than-expected Q1 results, including EPS of $1.50 versus $1.41 expected and revenue of $844.1 million, while also issuing FY2026 EPS guidance of 6.65 to 7.28.

King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its position in Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX - Free Report) by 3.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 1,617,100 shares of the shipping company's stock after purchasing an additional 47,099 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp owned approximately 2.98% of Kirby worth $178,172,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its holdings in Kirby by 30.4% during the first quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 491,355 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $49,632,000 after buying an additional 114,618 shares during the last quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kirby by 152.7% during the first quarter. UBS AM A Distinct Business Unit of UBS Asset Management Americas LLC now owns 182,565 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $18,441,000 after buying an additional 110,320 shares during the last quarter. Cerity Partners LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kirby by 68.6% during the second quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 20,096 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $2,279,000 after buying an additional 8,174 shares during the last quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System increased its position in shares of Kirby by 3.5% during the second quarter. California Public Employees Retirement System now owns 96,565 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $10,951,000 after acquiring an additional 3,292 shares in the last quarter. Finally, NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Kirby by 52,000.0% during the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 2,084 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $236,000 after acquiring an additional 2,080 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.15% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KEX has been the topic of several recent research reports. Evercore reaffirmed an "outperform" rating and issued a $158.00 price target on shares of Kirby in a research report on Friday, May 1st. BTIG Research increased their price objective on Kirby from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Citigroup raised their target price on Kirby from $147.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, April 9th. Weiss Ratings cut Kirby from a "buy (b-)" rating to a "hold (c+)" rating in a research report on Friday, May 15th. Finally, Wall Street Zen downgraded Kirby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Saturday. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kirby has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $146.20.

Kirby Price Performance

Kirby stock opened at $144.23 on Wednesday. Kirby Corporation has a 52 week low of $79.51 and a 52 week high of $157.69. The company's 50 day moving average price is $141.21 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $126.71. The stock has a market cap of $7.72 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.19, a P/E/G ratio of 1.47 and a beta of 0.85. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.59 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The shipping company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $844.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $832.57 million. Kirby had a return on equity of 10.62% and a net margin of 10.51%.Kirby's quarterly revenue was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.33 earnings per share. Kirby has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.650-7.280 EPS. On average, equities analysts predict that Kirby Corporation will post 6.99 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kirby news, VP Ronald A. Dragg sold 1,726 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.01, for a total value of $250,287.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 8,673 shares in the company, valued at $1,257,671.73. This represents a 16.60% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, CFO Raj Kumar sold 3,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total value of $398,100.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,494 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $596,353.80. This represents a 40.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 31,978 shares of company stock valued at $4,470,858. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kirby Company Profile

Kirby Corporation is a leading domestic maritime transporter of bulk liquid products in the United States. Through its Marine Transportation segment, the company operates one of North America's largest fleets of inland tank barges and towing vessels. Kirby's fleet moves petrochemicals, black oil, refined petroleum products and agricultural chemicals along coastal and inland waterways, providing critical logistical support to energy, chemical and agricultural producers.

In addition to its marine operations, Kirby's Distribution and Services segment offers diesel engine and power generation services, along with aftermarket parts sales.

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