Pallas Capital Advisors LLC Makes New Investment in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Pallas Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund bought 3,754 shares of the shipping company's stock, valued at approximately $379,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KEX. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kirby during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its position in shares of Kirby by 92.5% during the fourth quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 221,460 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $23,247,000 after acquiring an additional 106,411 shares during the last quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. raised its position in shares of Kirby by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Stanley Laman Group Ltd. now owns 38,803 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $4,105,000 after acquiring an additional 918 shares during the last quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. raised its position in shares of Kirby by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 29,659 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $3,143,000 after acquiring an additional 5,804 shares during the last quarter. Finally, V Square Quantitative Management LLC raised its position in shares of Kirby by 30.9% during the fourth quarter. V Square Quantitative Management LLC now owns 3,234 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $347,000 after acquiring an additional 764 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.15% of the company's stock.

Kirby Stock Performance

NYSE:KEX traded up $2.29 on Monday, hitting $113.12. The company's stock had a trading volume of 445,275 shares, compared to its average volume of 544,754. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Kirby Co. has a one year low of $83.94 and a one year high of $132.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $104.42 and a two-hundred day moving average of $105.21.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The shipping company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $785.66 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $824.12 million. Kirby had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 8.78%. The firm's quarterly revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. Research analysts predict that Kirby Co. will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

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.