Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) Short Interest Update

Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) saw a significant drop in short interest in December. As of December 15th, there was short interest totalling 599,900 shares, a drop of 16.3% from the November 30th total of 716,800 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 486,800 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.2 days. Approximately 1.1% of the shares of the company are sold short.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director Richard Ross Stewart sold 8,000 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.21, for a total value of $1,025,680.00. Following the transaction, the director now owns 15,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,985,716.48. This trade represents a 34.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP Ronald A. Dragg sold 2,313 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.30, for a total value of $294,444.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 7,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $978,045.90. This represents a 23.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 25,354 shares of company stock valued at $3,275,455. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kirby

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Select Equity Group L.P. acquired a new position in Kirby in the second quarter valued at $65,928,000. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kirby by 33.9% in the 2nd quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 887,384 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $106,246,000 after purchasing an additional 224,802 shares during the period. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kirby by 68.7% during the 3rd quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 477,233 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $58,428,000 after purchasing an additional 194,410 shares in the last quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP acquired a new position in Kirby in the third quarter valued at approximately $22,106,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kirby by 27.8% during the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 699,052 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $85,585,000 after buying an additional 152,146 shares in the last quarter. 96.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.80.

Kirby Trading Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:KEX traded up $0.06 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, reaching $105.80. 531,604 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 468,969. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.31, a PEG ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.18. Kirby has a twelve month low of $74.88 and a twelve month high of $132.21. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $120.04 and its 200-day moving average price is $119.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.67.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.08. Kirby had a return on equity of 9.43% and a net margin of 9.37%. The company had revenue of $831.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $824.42 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Kirby will post 5.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

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.