Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX) Shares Bought by Lecap Asset Management Ltd.

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. grew its stake in Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX - Free Report) by 28.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 16,475 shares of the shipping company's stock after buying an additional 3,694 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd.'s holdings in Kirby were worth $1,664,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other large investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Colonial Trust Co SC boosted its holdings in shares of Kirby by 295.3% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 253 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kirby in the 1st quarter valued at $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. boosted its holdings in shares of Kirby by 147.2% in the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 351 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 209 shares in the last quarter. Versant Capital Management Inc acquired a new position in shares of Kirby in the 1st quarter valued at $44,000. Finally, LGT Financial Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kirby in the 4th quarter valued at $63,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.15% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Kirby Stock Performance

KEX stock traded up $0.36 on Friday, hitting $115.07. The company's stock had a trading volume of 1,127,267 shares, compared to its average volume of 541,934. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $107.67 and a two-hundred day moving average of $104.79. Kirby Corporation has a 1 year low of $83.94 and a 1 year high of $132.21. The stock has a market cap of $6.46 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.03 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.58, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The shipping company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.06. Kirby had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 9.81%. The firm had revenue of $785.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $824.12 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. Kirby's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts predict that Kirby Corporation will post 6.57 EPS for the current fiscal 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.