Voya Investment Management LLC Raises Stock Position in Kirby Corporation $KEX

Key Points

• Voya Investment Management LLC increased its holdings in Kirby Corporation by 19.0%, acquiring an additional 46,673 shares, bringing its total to 292,236 shares valued at approximately $29.5 million.
• Kirby Corporation reported an earnings per share (EPS) of $1.67 for the last quarter, exceeding analyst expectations of $1.59 and showing a 3.8% year-over-year revenue increase.
• Kirby has received a Moderate Buy rating from analysts with a consensus price target of $121.00, with Bank of America recently decreasing its target price from $110.00 to $107.00 while maintaining a buy rating.

Voya Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX - Free Report) by 19.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 292,236 shares of the shipping company's stock after purchasing an additional 46,673 shares during the period. Voya Investment Management LLC owned approximately 0.52% of Kirby worth $29,519,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KEX. Deutsche Bank AG grew its position in Kirby by 2,655.4% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 46,897 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $4,962,000 after acquiring an additional 45,195 shares in the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth raised its stake in shares of Kirby by 35.3% during the fourth quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 3,624 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $383,000 after acquiring an additional 945 shares during the last quarter. Gotham Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kirby during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,061,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Kirby by 66.1% during the fourth quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. now owns 6,052 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $640,000 after buying an additional 2,408 shares during the period. Finally, Lazard Asset Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kirby by 59.9% during the fourth quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC now owns 11,463 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $1,211,000 after buying an additional 4,294 shares during the period. 96.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KEX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Kirby from $110.00 to $107.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and set a $125.00 price objective on shares of Kirby in a research report on Thursday. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Kirby from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Three research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $122.33.

Kirby Price Performance

KEX traded up $1.26 during trading on Thursday, hitting $83.90. 500,086 shares of the company traded hands, compared to its average volume of 665,487. The company has a market cap of $4.68 billion, a PE ratio of 15.89, a P/E/G ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.09. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $101.34 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $103.33. Kirby Corporation has a 1 year low of $82.55 and a 1 year high of $132.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $855.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $851.94 million. Kirby had a net margin of 9.25% and a return on equity of 10.02%. Kirby's quarterly revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.43 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kirby Corporation will post 6.57 earnings per share 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.