Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX) Shares Sold by Vanguard Group Inc.

Vanguard Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX) by 4.6% during the 1st quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 5,789,554 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 276,975 shares during the period. Vanguard Group Inc. owned approximately 0.10% of Kirby worth $584,803,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Kirby by 0.4% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 132,089 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $13,342,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares in the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. raised its holdings in Kirby by 28.7% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 668 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $67,000 after acquiring an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its holdings in Kirby by 5.3% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 77,641 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $7,842,000 after acquiring an additional 3,924 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC raised its holdings in Kirby by 53.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 672 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $68,000 after acquiring an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its holdings in Kirby by 206.1% in the first quarter. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC now owns 7,837 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $792,000 after acquiring an additional 5,277 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Kirby Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE:KEX opened at $99.43 on Thursday. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $111.81 and its 200 day moving average price is $105.65. The stock has a market cap of $5.55 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.80, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.99 and a beta of 1.01. Kirby Corporation has a fifty-two week low of $83.94 and a fifty-two week high of $132.21. The company has a quick ratio of 0.96, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.59 by $0.08. The company had revenue of $855.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $851.94 million. Kirby had a net margin of 9.25% and a return on equity of 10.02%. The firm’s revenue was up 3.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $1.43 earnings per share. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Kirby Corporation will post 6.57 earnings per share 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.