King Luther Capital Management Corp Sells 36,273 Shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

King Luther Capital Management Corp cut its holdings in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) by 2.3% in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 1,550,410 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 36,273 shares during the quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp owned about 2.70% of Kirby worth $164,033,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Quest Partners LLC raised its stake in Kirby by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 12,462 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,526,000 after acquiring an additional 89 shares during the period. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its stake in Kirby by 1.3% in the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 8,459 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $895,000 after acquiring an additional 108 shares during the period. Huntington National Bank raised its stake in Kirby by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. Huntington National Bank now owns 1,668 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $204,000 after acquiring an additional 130 shares during the period. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its stake in Kirby by 420.0% in the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 208 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. Finally, Virtus Fund Advisers LLC raised its stake in Kirby by 38.8% in the 3rd quarter. Virtus Fund Advisers LLC now owns 833 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $102,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the period. 96.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KEX has been the topic of several recent research reports. StockNews.com cut Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Stifel Nicolaus lowered their price objective on Kirby from $136.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One equities 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 company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $129.25.

Kirby Price Performance

Shares of KEX opened at $95.15 on Tuesday. Kirby Co. has a 1 year low of $86.02 and a 1 year high of $132.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a current ratio of 1.45 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company has a market capitalization of $5.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.38, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.18. The business has a 50-day moving average of $105.84 and a 200-day moving average of $115.25.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last issued its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The shipping company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by ($0.01). Kirby had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 8.78%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Kirby Co. will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kirby news, VP Scott P. Miller sold 1,244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 5,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,697.45. The trade was a 18.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

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.