Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) Shares Acquired by Jefferies Financial Group Inc.

Jefferies Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX - Free Report) by 66.1% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 6,052 shares of the shipping company's stock after buying an additional 2,408 shares during the quarter. Jefferies Financial Group Inc.'s holdings in Kirby were worth $640,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new stake in Kirby during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Colonial Trust Co SC raised its holdings in shares of Kirby by 295.3% in the fourth quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 253 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $27,000 after acquiring an additional 189 shares during the last quarter. LGT Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kirby in the fourth quarter valued at $63,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in shares of Kirby during the fourth quarter valued at $76,000. Finally, Quarry LP acquired a new stake in shares of Kirby during the fourth quarter valued at $133,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.15% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on KEX. 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. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on shares of Kirby from $136.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st.

Kirby Trading Down 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:KEX traded down $1.33 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $106.58. The company's stock had a trading volume of 100,342 shares, compared to its average volume of 539,258. The firm has a market cap of $5.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.71, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.91. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $99.77 and a 200 day moving average price of $107.49. Kirby Co. has a 1 year low of $83.94 and a 1 year high of $132.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX - Get Free Report) last posted 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 return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 8.78%. The company had revenue of $785.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $824.12 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $1.19 EPS. The firm's revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts forecast that Kirby Co. will post 6.57 EPS for the current year.

Kirby 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.