KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS Buys Shares of 3,300 Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 3,300 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $349,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KEX. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kirby during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. R Squared Ltd acquired a new stake in Kirby in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Hilltop Holdings Inc. bought a new stake in shares of Kirby during the third quarter valued at about $202,000. Signaturefd LLC lifted its holdings in Kirby by 13.1% in the fourth 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, Ieq Capital LLC acquired a new stake in Kirby in the fourth quarter worth about $257,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KEX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Kirby from $136.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. Bank of America cut their price target on shares of Kirby from $133.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, March 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of 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 stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,697.45. This represents a 18.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. 0.90% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Kirby Trading Down 4.0 %

Kirby stock opened at $89.20 on Friday. Kirby Co. has a 52 week low of $85.33 and a 52 week high of $132.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.08 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.17, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $102.83 and a 200 day moving average price of $112.89.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The shipping company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by ($0.01). Kirby had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 8.78%. 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.