Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX) Shares Purchased by 12th Street Asset Management Company LLC

12th Street Asset Management Company LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX) by 27.5% in the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 406,149 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 87,646 shares during the quarter. Kirby makes up 6.9% of 12th Street Asset Management Company LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 2nd largest holding. 12th Street Asset Management Company LLC’s holdings in Kirby were worth $41,025,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KEX. American Century Companies Inc. raised its stake in Kirby by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 29,100 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,079,000 after purchasing an additional 1,331 shares during the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new position in Kirby during the 4th quarter valued at $349,000. LPL Financial LLC raised its stake in Kirby by 43.8% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 7,054 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $746,000 after purchasing an additional 2,149 shares during the last quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised its stake in Kirby by 13.5% during the 4th quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 161,495 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $17,086,000 after purchasing an additional 19,230 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Kirby during the 4th quarter valued at $74,293,000. 96.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Kirby Stock Performance

NYSE KEX opened at $120.00 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $6.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.76, a PEG ratio of 1.07 and a beta of 0.96. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $114.10 and its 200 day simple moving average is $106.39. Kirby Corporation has a twelve month low of $83.94 and a twelve month high of $132.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.58 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The shipping company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.06. The business had revenue of $785.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $824.12 million. Kirby had a net margin of 9.02% and a return on equity of 9.81%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.19 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts forecast that Kirby Corporation will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kirby Company 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.