Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership Has $6.86 Million Holdings in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership decreased its holdings in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) by 66.3% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 64,869 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 127,550 shares during the period. Arrowstreet Capital Limited Partnership’s holdings in Kirby were worth $6,863,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KEX. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC increased its stake in Kirby by 1.2% in the 4th quarter. Orion Portfolio Solutions LLC now owns 20,191 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,136,000 after buying an additional 245 shares during the period. New Age Alpha Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kirby in the fourth quarter worth $3,746,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Kirby during the fourth quarter worth $74,293,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its holdings in shares of Kirby by 13.5% during the fourth quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 161,495 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $17,086,000 after acquiring an additional 19,230 shares in the last quarter. Finally, EFG Asset Management North America Corp. boosted its position in Kirby by 58.3% during the fourth quarter. EFG Asset Management North America Corp. now owns 25,503 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,700,000 after purchasing an additional 9,394 shares during the last quarter. 96.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on KEX shares. 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. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus decreased their target price on shares of Kirby from $136.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st.

Kirby Stock Performance

KEX opened at $89.20 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.45. The company has a market cap of $5.08 billion, a PE ratio of 18.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.99. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $102.83 and a 200-day moving average of $112.82. Kirby Co. has a 52-week low of $85.33 and a 52-week high of $132.21.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last announced its quarterly earnings results 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 net margin of 8.78% and a return on equity of 9.71%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Kirby Co. will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Kirby

In other Kirby news, VP Scott P. Miller sold 1,244 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.61, for a total value of $133,866.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $596,697.45. This trade represents a 18.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

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.