Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD Raises Position in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD grew its holdings in shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX - Free Report) by 45.6% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 355,781 shares of the shipping company's stock after acquiring an additional 111,385 shares during the quarter. Price T Rowe Associates Inc. MD owned 0.62% of Kirby worth $37,643,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Kirby in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new stake in shares of Kirby in the 4th quarter valued at about $76,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its position in Kirby by 433.3% during the 4th quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,600 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $169,000 after acquiring an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Signaturefd LLC increased its stake in Kirby by 13.1% in the 4th quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,746 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $185,000 after purchasing an additional 202 shares during the period. Finally, Huntington National Bank lifted its position in Kirby by 6.8% in the fourth quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,781 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $188,000 after purchasing an additional 113 shares during the last quarter. 96.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have weighed in on KEX. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Kirby from $136.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America reduced their price target on Kirby from $133.00 to $123.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut Kirby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th.

Insider Activity

In other Kirby news, VP Scott P. Miller sold 1,244 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.61, for a total transaction of $133,866.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,545 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $596,697.45. This trade represents a 18.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kirby Trading Up 5.3 %

NYSE KEX traded up $5.30 during trading on Friday, hitting $104.88. The company had a trading volume of 1,107,886 shares, compared to its average volume of 540,006. The company's fifty day moving average is $97.67 and its 200-day moving average is $108.67. Kirby Co. has a one year low of $83.94 and a one year high of $132.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The company has a market cap of $5.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.99.

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 (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.06. Kirby had a net margin of 8.78% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The company had revenue of $785.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $824.12 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.19 earnings per share. Kirby's revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Kirby Co. will post 6.57 earnings per share 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.