Bridgefront Capital LLC Takes $820,000 Position in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Bridgefront Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund purchased 7,753 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $820,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC lifted its position in shares of Kirby by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 8,459 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $895,000 after purchasing an additional 108 shares in the last quarter. Huntington National Bank grew its holdings in shares of Kirby by 6.8% in the 4th quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,781 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $188,000 after acquiring an additional 113 shares in the last quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV increased its position in shares of Kirby by 1.0% in the fourth quarter. Mercer Global Advisors Inc. ADV now owns 13,035 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,379,000 after acquiring an additional 124 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp raised its holdings in Kirby by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Stifel Financial Corp now owns 29,047 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,073,000 after acquiring an additional 138 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Corient Private Wealth LLC boosted its position in Kirby by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 30,914 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,271,000 after purchasing an additional 140 shares during the last quarter. 96.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kirby news, VP Scott P. Miller sold 1,244 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now owns 5,545 shares in the company, valued at $596,697.45. The trade was a 18.32 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on KEX shares. StockNews.com downgraded Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. 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 research note on Friday, March 28th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on shares of Kirby from $136.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, January 31st.

Kirby Stock Up 5.3 %

KEX stock opened at $104.88 on Monday. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $97.67 and its 200 day simple moving average is $108.56. Kirby Co. has a 1-year low of $83.94 and a 1-year high of $132.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.97 billion, a PE ratio of 21.36, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.99.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The shipping company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.06. Kirby had a net margin of 8.78% and a return on equity of 9.71%. The business had revenue of $785.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $824.12 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. Kirby’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Kirby Co. will post 6.57 EPS for the current year.

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.