Coyle Financial Counsel LLC Increases Holdings in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Coyle Financial Counsel LLC lifted its position in shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) by 7.2% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 15,960 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 1,067 shares during the period. Coyle Financial Counsel LLC’s holdings in Kirby were worth $1,689,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KEX. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Kirby by 420.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 208 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new stake in Kirby in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group purchased a new stake in Kirby in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. Capital Performance Advisors LLP purchased a new stake in Kirby in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Kirby in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $76,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their target price on Kirby from $136.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.25.

Kirby Trading Down 2.0 %

Shares of KEX opened at $100.83 on Tuesday. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $107.14 and a two-hundred day moving average of $116.47. 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 company has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a PE ratio of 20.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.19. Kirby Co. has a fifty-two week low of $86.02 and a fifty-two week high of $132.21.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The shipping company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.30 by ($0.01). Kirby had a net margin of 8.78% and a return on equity of 9.71%. As a group, analysts forecast that Kirby Co. will post 6.57 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Kirby

In other news, VP Scott P. Miller sold 1,244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.61, for a total transaction of $133,866.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,545 shares in the company, valued at $596,697.45. This represents a 18.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

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.