Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. Increases Stock Position in Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX)

Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. boosted its position in Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX - Free Report) by 18.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 87,722 shares of the shipping company's stock after purchasing an additional 13,636 shares during the period. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. owned approximately 0.15% of Kirby worth $8,861,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of KEX. Huntington National Bank lifted its stake in shares of 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 during the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its stake in Kirby by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 13,035 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $1,379,000 after purchasing an additional 124 shares during the period. Stifel Financial Corp lifted its position in shares of Kirby by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 29,047 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $3,073,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the last quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kirby by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 30,914 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $3,271,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the period. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kirby by 28.7% during the first 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. Institutional investors own 96.15% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Kirby Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Kirby stock traded up $0.36 on Friday, hitting $115.07. 1,127,267 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 542,551. Kirby Corporation has a 52 week low of $83.94 and a 52 week high of $132.21. The company has a market cap of $6.46 billion, a PE ratio of 22.79, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.97. The stock's 50 day moving average price is $107.27 and its 200-day moving average price is $104.99. 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 issued its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The shipping company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.06. Kirby had a return on equity of 9.81% and a net margin of 9.02%. The business had revenue of $785.66 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $824.12 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. Kirby's revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Kirby Corporation will post 6.57 EPS 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.