Quest Partners LLC Has $1.53 Million Stake in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Quest Partners LLC grew its stake in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) by 0.7% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 12,462 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 89 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC’s holdings in Kirby were worth $1,526,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KEX. Select Equity Group L.P. bought a new position in Kirby in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $65,928,000. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kirby by 33.9% in the 2nd quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 887,384 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $106,246,000 after acquiring an additional 224,802 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kirby by 68.7% in the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 477,233 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $58,428,000 after acquiring an additional 194,410 shares during the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP bought a new stake in Kirby during the 3rd quarter worth $22,106,000. Finally, F M Investments LLC bought a new stake in Kirby during the 2nd quarter worth $14,185,000. 96.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KEX has been the topic of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com lowered Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 22nd. Bank of America lifted their target price 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 issued a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.80.

Insider Activity at Kirby

In other Kirby news, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 26,358 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.46, for a total value of $3,175,084.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 63,399 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,637,043.54. The trade was a 29.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, COO Christian G. O’neil sold 15,041 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $1,955,330.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,746 shares in the company, valued at $1,006,980. The trade was a 66.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 60,596 shares of company stock worth $7,515,760 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kirby Price Performance

Shares of KEX opened at $128.30 on Wednesday. The business has a 50-day moving average of $122.71 and a 200-day moving average of $120.01. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $7.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.17. Kirby Co. has a 1 year low of $72.11 and a 1 year high of $132.04.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.08. Kirby had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 9.43%. The firm had revenue of $831.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $824.42 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.05 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Kirby Co. will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current year.

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.