Northern Trust Corp Boosts Stock Position in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX - Free Report) by 10.2% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the SEC. The fund owned 518,255 shares of the shipping company's stock after acquiring an additional 47,895 shares during the quarter. Northern Trust Corp owned 0.90% of Kirby worth $54,831,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KEX. Tudor Investment Corp ET AL purchased a new stake in Kirby during the fourth quarter valued at about $1,186,000. Quarry LP purchased a new stake in Kirby during the 4th quarter valued at about $133,000. Aquatic Capital Management LLC bought a new position in Kirby during the 4th quarter worth approximately $2,764,000. Oxford Asset Management LLP purchased a new position in Kirby in the 4th quarter worth approximately $473,000. Finally, Boothbay Fund Management LLC bought a new stake in Kirby in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $272,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.15% of the company's stock.

Kirby Trading Down 0.1 %

Shares of KEX stock traded down $0.13 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $103.76. The company's stock had a trading volume of 316,940 shares, compared to its average volume of 539,656. 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 market capitalization of $5.90 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.13, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.91. The firm's fifty day simple moving average is $97.85 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.01.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The shipping company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.06. Kirby had a net margin of 8.78% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The business had revenue of $785.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $824.12 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. The firm's revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts expect that Kirby Co. will post 6.57 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KEX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Kirby from $133.00 to $123.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 28th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on shares of Kirby from $136.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st.

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.