American Trust Reduces Stake in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

American Trust reduced its position in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX – Get Rating) by 8.7% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 4,872 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 464 shares during the period. American Trust’s holdings in Kirby were worth $296,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina increased its stake in Kirby by 1.3% in the 3rd quarter. Treasurer of the State of North Carolina now owns 25,577 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,554,000 after purchasing an additional 330 shares in the last quarter. PDT Partners LLC purchased a new position in Kirby in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $1,671,000. Hourglass Capital LLC increased its stake in Kirby by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Hourglass Capital LLC now owns 45,385 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,758,000 after purchasing an additional 1,420 shares in the last quarter. Zenyatta Capital Management LP purchased a new position in Kirby in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $1,215,000. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased its stake in Kirby by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 847,054 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $51,476,000 after purchasing an additional 72,806 shares in the last quarter. 94.94% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Kirby

In other news, insider Christian G. O’neil sold 8,660 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $73.02, for a total transaction of $632,353.20. Following the sale, the insider now owns 15,811 shares in the company, valued at $1,154,519.22. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Amy D. Husted sold 7,406 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction on Monday, February 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.89, for a total value of $539,823.34. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 14,072 shares in the company, valued at $1,025,708.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, insider Christian G. O’neil sold 8,660 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 8th. The shares were sold at an average price of $73.02, for a total value of $632,353.20. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider now owns 15,811 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,154,519.22. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 20,316 shares of company stock worth $1,483,079 over the last quarter. 1.80% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KEX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. TheStreet raised Kirby from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a research note on Monday. BTIG Research raised their price target on Kirby from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 6th. Bank of America raised their price target on Kirby from $77.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 7th. StockNews.com began coverage on Kirby in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company. Finally, Stephens raised their price target on Kirby from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $85.50.

Kirby Price Performance

KEX stock opened at $65.05 on Friday. Kirby Co. has a 52-week low of $55.03 and a 52-week high of $76.34. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $69.54 and its 200-day simple moving average is $67.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.17, a current ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.90 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 32.04, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.68 and a beta of 1.26.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX – Get Rating) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Tuesday, January 31st. The shipping company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.03. Kirby had a return on equity of 4.27% and a net margin of 4.39%. The business had revenue of $730.17 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $714.06 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.27 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 23.5% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts expect that Kirby Co. will post 3.57 EPS for the current year.

Kirby Profile

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Kirby Corp. is a tank barge operator, which engages in transporting bulk liquid products. It transports petrochemicals, black oil, refined petroleum products, and agricultural chemicals. It operates through Marine Transportation and Distribution and Services segments. The Marine Transportation segment provides marine transportation by United States flagged vessels principally of liquid cargoes throughout the United States inland waterway system.