Creative Planning Grows Stock Position in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Creative Planning lifted its position in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) by 16.8% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 6,536 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 940 shares during the quarter. Creative Planning’s holdings in Kirby were worth $783,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. V Square Quantitative Management LLC purchased a new position in Kirby during the 4th quarter worth approximately $194,000. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in Kirby during the 4th quarter worth approximately $464,000. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in Kirby by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 384,068 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $30,142,000 after buying an additional 1,360 shares during the last quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP raised its position in Kirby by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,828,758 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $143,521,000 after buying an additional 63,611 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in Kirby by 1.4% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,097,723 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $478,549,000 after buying an additional 81,808 shares during the last quarter. 96.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Activity at Kirby

In related news, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 26,358 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.46, for a total value of $3,175,084.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 63,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,637,043.54. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Kirby news, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 26,358 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.46, for a total transaction of $3,175,084.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 63,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,637,043.54. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Amy D. Husted sold 2,853 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total transaction of $361,018.62. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,280 shares in the company, valued at approximately $668,131.20. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 46,012 shares of company stock valued at $5,571,267. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kirby Price Performance

NYSE:KEX opened at $125.02 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The firm has a market cap of $7.32 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $119.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $115.66. Kirby Co. has a 1-year low of $72.11 and a 1-year high of $130.90.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The shipping company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.11. Kirby had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 8.70%. The firm had revenue of $824.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $821.65 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities research analysts forecast that Kirby Co. will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of equities analysts have issued reports on the stock. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 22nd. Bank of America raised their price target on shares of Kirby from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kirby presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.80.

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.