Hsbc Holdings PLC Purchases 5,343 Shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Hsbc Holdings PLC lifted its holdings in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) by 117.7% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,882 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 5,343 shares during the period. Hsbc Holdings PLC’s holdings in Kirby were worth $1,047,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KEX. Fayez Sarofim & Co boosted its stake in shares of Kirby by 21.6% during the 4th quarter. Fayez Sarofim & Co now owns 12,278 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,299,000 after acquiring an additional 2,181 shares during the last quarter. Stifel Financial Corp grew 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 valued at $3,073,000 after purchasing an additional 138 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury increased its position in Kirby by 3.3% in the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 33,535 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,548,000 after buying an additional 1,086 shares in the last quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC lifted its position in shares of Kirby by 7.5% during the 4th quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 7,681 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $813,000 after buying an additional 539 shares in the last quarter. Finally, MetLife Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Kirby by 8.2% during the 4th quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC now owns 32,368 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,425,000 after acquiring an additional 2,440 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Kirby

In related news, VP Scott P. Miller sold 1,244 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,697.45. This represents a 18.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Kirby Trading Up 5.3 %

Shares of KEX opened at $104.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $5.97 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.36, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Kirby Co. has a 1 year low of $83.94 and a 1 year high of $132.21. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $97.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.67.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The shipping company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $785.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $824.12 million. Kirby had a net margin of 8.78% and a return on equity of 9.71%. Kirby’s quarterly revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.19 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts expect that Kirby Co. will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts have weighed in on KEX shares. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price target on shares of Kirby from $136.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Bank of America cut their price target on Kirby from $133.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, March 28th.

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.