Heartland Advisors Inc. Has $6.46 Million Position in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Heartland Advisors Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) by 13.2% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 61,037 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 9,281 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Kirby were worth $6,458,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. State Street Corp grew its stake in shares of Kirby by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,667,520 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $204,154,000 after purchasing an additional 12,337 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Kirby by 0.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 961,303 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $117,724,000 after purchasing an additional 2,784 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Kirby in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $74,293,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. lifted its stake in Kirby by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 525,708 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $55,620,000 after acquiring an additional 48,475 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings 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 worth $43,911,000 after acquiring an additional 10,486 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

Kirby Stock Down 2.1 %

KEX stock opened at $100.77 on Friday. Kirby Co. has a fifty-two week low of $93.63 and a fifty-two week high of $132.21. The company has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.52, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.18. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $104.15 and its 200 day simple moving average is $113.63. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.45.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price target on Kirby from $136.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com lowered Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Bank of America lowered their price objective on shares of Kirby from $133.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $124.75.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kirby news, VP Scott P. Miller sold 1,244 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 in the company, valued at $596,697.45. This trade represents a 18.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Corporate insiders own 0.90% 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.