Quarry LP Invests $133,000 in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Quarry LP acquired a new position in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 1,254 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $133,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Kirby by 27.5% in the third quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 142,265 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $17,418,000 after purchasing an additional 30,713 shares in the last quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp grew its stake in Kirby by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 415,042 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $43,911,000 after acquiring an additional 10,486 shares in the last quarter. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in Kirby during the fourth quarter valued at $18,749,000. Artemis Investment Management LLP grew its stake in Kirby by 112.0% during the fourth quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 382,835 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $40,504,000 after acquiring an additional 202,272 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Asset Management One Co. Ltd. grew its stake in Kirby by 24.3% during the fourth quarter. Asset Management One Co. Ltd. now owns 29,659 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,143,000 after acquiring an additional 5,804 shares in the last quarter. 96.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kirby news, VP Scott P. Miller sold 1,244 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.61, for a total value of $133,866.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,697.45. This trade represents a 18.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Corporate insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Kirby Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KEX opened at $95.78 on Tuesday. Kirby Co. has a 52 week low of $83.94 and a 52 week high of $132.21. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.51, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.99. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.95 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $109.24. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The shipping company reported $1.29 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%. On average, analysts expect that Kirby Co. will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus cut their target price 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 target price on shares of Kirby from $133.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, StockNews.com cut shares of Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th.

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.