Merit Financial Group LLC Buys Shares of 3,864 Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Merit Financial Group LLC bought a new stake in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor bought 3,864 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $390,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Wellington Management Group LLP increased its stake in Kirby by 1.6% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,762,651 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $186,488,000 after acquiring an additional 28,259 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. boosted its holdings in Kirby by 59.0% in the fourth quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 1,565,693 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $165,650,000 after purchasing an additional 581,215 shares during the last quarter. First Trust Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Kirby by 69.7% in the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 876,292 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $92,712,000 after purchasing an additional 359,770 shares during the last quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. boosted its holdings in Kirby by 14.1% in the fourth quarter. D. E. Shaw & Co. Inc. now owns 815,008 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $86,228,000 after purchasing an additional 100,655 shares during the last quarter. Finally, ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC lifted its holdings in Kirby by 11.3% during the 4th quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 754,785 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $79,856,000 after buying an additional 76,436 shares during the last quarter. 96.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Separately, Bank of America increased their price target on Kirby from $116.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, May 16th.

Kirby Stock Up 0.2%

KEX opened at $112.75 on Thursday. Kirby Co. has a 12 month low of $83.94 and a 12 month 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 stock has a market cap of $6.33 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.96, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.97. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $102.95 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.85.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The shipping company reported $1.33 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.06. Kirby had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 8.78%. The firm had revenue of $785.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $824.12 million. During the same period last year, the firm earned $1.19 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts predict 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.