Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) Short Interest Update

Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) was the recipient of a significant increase in short interest in August. As of August 15th, there was short interest totalling 788,300 shares, an increase of 7.3% from the July 31st total of 734,700 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 511,400 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 1.5 days. Approximately 1.4% of the company’s stock are sold short.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kirby

In other news, COO Christian G. O’neil sold 2,770 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.21, for a total transaction of $305,281.70. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 16,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,772,066.59. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In related news, VP Kurt A. Niemietz sold 1,500 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction dated Thursday, June 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $119.50, for a total transaction of $179,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 926 shares in the company, valued at $110,657. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Christian G. O’neil sold 2,770 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.21, for a total value of $305,281.70. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 16,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,772,066.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 7,270 shares of company stock worth $845,462 over the last ninety days. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kirby

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kirby by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,097,723 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $478,549,000 after purchasing an additional 81,808 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in Kirby by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,624,271 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $205,954,000 after acquiring an additional 62,378 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its holdings in Kirby by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,828,758 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $143,521,000 after acquiring an additional 63,611 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC lifted its position in Kirby by 4.1% during the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,401,844 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $133,624,000 after purchasing an additional 54,755 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kirby by 10.5% during the 1st quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 955,587 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $91,086,000 after acquiring an additional 90,586 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

Kirby Price Performance

Kirby stock opened at $115.50 on Wednesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.76 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.30, a PEG ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $118.93 and its 200-day moving average is $109.47. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. Kirby has a 12 month low of $72.11 and a 12 month high of $130.90.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The shipping company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.11. The firm had revenue of $824.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $821.65 million. Kirby had a return on equity of 8.70% and a net margin of 8.72%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. Equities research analysts expect that Kirby will post 5.44 EPS for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on KEX shares. Bank of America boosted their target price on Kirby from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Kirby from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $123.80.

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.