Janney Montgomery Scott LLC Sells 3,902 Shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Janney Montgomery Scott LLC decreased its holdings in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) by 31.8% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 8,351 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 3,902 shares during the quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC’s holdings in Kirby were worth $1,022,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its position in Kirby by 53.9% in the 1st quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 5,372 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $512,000 after acquiring an additional 1,881 shares in the last quarter. Sei Investments Co. boosted its stake in Kirby by 32.4% during the 1st quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 66,833 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $6,371,000 after acquiring an additional 16,373 shares during the last quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC lifted its stake in Kirby by 2.9% in the first quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 18,370 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,751,000 after buying an additional 523 shares in the last quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board acquired a new stake in shares of Kirby in the first quarter valued at approximately $1,031,000. Finally, Bessemer Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kirby by 23.2% in the first quarter. Bessemer Group Inc. now owns 250,710 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $23,897,000 after purchasing an additional 47,134 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

Kirby Stock Performance

Kirby stock opened at $128.05 on Friday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $122.17 and a 200-day moving average of $119.61. Kirby Co. has a 1 year low of $72.11 and a 1 year high of $132.04. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $7.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.58, a P/E/G ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.17.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $831.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $824.42 million. Kirby had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 9.43%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Kirby Co. will post 5.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of brokerages recently weighed in on KEX. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, September 22nd. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Kirby from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kirby currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.80.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, COO Christian G. O’neil sold 15,041 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $1,955,330.00. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,746 shares in the company, valued at $1,006,980. The trade was a 66.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Ronald A. Dragg sold 2,313 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.30, for a total value of $294,444.90. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,683 shares in the company, valued at $978,045.90. The trade was a 23.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 60,596 shares of company stock worth $7,515,760. Corporate 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.