Lecap Asset Management Ltd. Has $1.66 Million Stock Holdings in Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX)

Lecap Asset Management Ltd. raised its position in Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX) by 28.9% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 16,475 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 3,694 shares during the period. Lecap Asset Management Ltd.’s holdings in Kirby were worth $1,664,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KEX. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Kirby in the 4th quarter valued at $74,293,000. Select Equity Group L.P. grew its holdings in Kirby by 59.0% in the 4th quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 1,565,693 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $165,650,000 after buying an additional 581,215 shares in the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP grew its holdings in Kirby by 69.7% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 876,292 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $92,712,000 after buying an additional 359,770 shares in the last quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. grew its holdings in Kirby by 848.5% in the 4th quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. now owns 393,647 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $41,648,000 after buying an additional 352,144 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its holdings in Kirby by 122.3% in the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 633,812 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $64,022,000 after buying an additional 348,665 shares in the last quarter. 96.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, Bank of America upped their price objective on Kirby from $116.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th.

Kirby Stock Performance

NYSE:KEX opened at $112.35 on Thursday. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $106.88 and a 200-day moving average price of $105.02. The company has a market cap of $6.30 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.25, a PEG ratio of 1.02 and a beta of 0.97. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.58. Kirby Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $83.94 and a fifty-two week high of $132.21.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The shipping company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $785.66 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $824.12 million. Kirby had a return on equity of 9.81% and a net margin of 9.02%. The company’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $1.19 EPS. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Kirby Corporation will post 6.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.