Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) Shares Purchased by Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP

Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP lifted its position in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) by 47.5% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 71,811 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 23,118 shares during the quarter. Kirby makes up 1.8% of Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 4th largest holding. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP owned approximately 0.13% of Kirby worth $7,598,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Empowered Funds LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kirby during the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new stake in shares of Kirby in the third quarter valued at about $42,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new stake in Kirby during the fourth quarter worth about $76,000. Virtus Fund Advisers LLC grew its position in Kirby by 38.8% during the third quarter. Virtus Fund Advisers LLC now owns 833 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $102,000 after buying an additional 233 shares during the period. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. purchased a new position in Kirby in the third quarter valued at about $202,000. 96.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have issued reports on KEX. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on shares of Kirby from $136.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kirby has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $129.25.

Insider Activity

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

Kirby Stock Up 1.2 %

Kirby stock opened at $101.31 on Monday. Kirby Co. has a one year low of $92.13 and a one year high of $132.21. 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 firm has a market capitalization of $5.76 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.63, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $104.67 and a 200-day simple moving average of $114.04.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 30th. The shipping company reported $1.29 earnings per share 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 analysts expect that Kirby Co. will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current year.

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.