Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Acquires 4,922 Shares of Kirby Corporation $KEX

Key Points

• Price T Rowe Associates Inc. increased its stake in Kirby Corporation by 1.4%, acquiring an additional 4,922 shares, bringing its total holdings to approximately 360,703 shares valued at $36.4 million.
• Bank of America raised its price target on Kirby shares from $116 to $125 and assigned a "buy" rating, while the average target price among analysts is $130.
• Kirby reported $1.67 earnings per share for the last quarter, beating analysts' expectations, with revenue of $855.46 million, up 3.8% compared to the previous year.

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD increased its holdings in shares of Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX - Free Report) by 1.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 360,703 shares of the shipping company's stock after purchasing an additional 4,922 shares during the period. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned approximately 0.63% of Kirby worth $36,436,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also made changes to their positions in the business. Capital Fund Management S.A. lifted its position in shares of Kirby by 202.2% during the 1st quarter. Capital Fund Management S.A. now owns 55,327 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $5,589,000 after purchasing an additional 37,016 shares during the last quarter. EntryPoint Capital LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kirby during the 1st quarter worth about $272,000. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Kirby by 125.6% during the 1st quarter. HITE Hedge Asset Management LLC now owns 222,732 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $22,498,000 after purchasing an additional 124,014 shares during the last quarter. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in Kirby by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 532,931 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $53,831,000 after acquiring an additional 14,676 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group raised its holdings in Kirby by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 394 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $40,000 after acquiring an additional 114 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.15% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Bank of America upped their price target on Kirby from $116.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Friday, May 16th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Buy" and an average target price of $130.00.

Kirby Price Performance

Shares of KEX traded down $2.26 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $94.94. The company had a trading volume of 678,006 shares, compared to its average volume of 618,114. Kirby Corporation has a twelve month low of $83.94 and a twelve month high of $132.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The company's 50-day moving average is $107.61 and its 200-day moving average is $104.66. The company has a market capitalization of $5.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.95, a P/E/G ratio of 0.97 and a beta of 1.09.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. Kirby had a return on equity of 10.02% and a net margin of 9.25%.The business had revenue of $855.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $851.94 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.43 EPS. Kirby's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Kirby Corporation will post 6.57 EPS for the current 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.