ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC Increases Position in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC lifted its stake in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) by 11.3% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 754,785 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 76,436 shares during the quarter. Kirby comprises approximately 1.1% of ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC’s holdings, making the stock its 29th largest position. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC owned 1.31% of Kirby worth $79,856,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KEX. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Kirby in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. LGT Financial Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Kirby during the 4th quarter valued at about $63,000. R Squared Ltd purchased a new position in Kirby in the fourth quarter worth about $76,000. Quarry LP bought a new position in shares of Kirby in the fourth quarter worth approximately $133,000. Finally, Canada Pension Plan Investment Board grew its holdings in shares of Kirby by 433.3% during the fourth quarter. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board now owns 1,600 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $169,000 after buying an additional 1,300 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Scott P. Miller sold 1,244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.61, for a total value of $133,866.84. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 5,545 shares in the company, valued at $596,697.45. This represents a 18.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Kirby Price Performance

Shares of KEX opened at $104.88 on Friday. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $97.67 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $108.77. The firm has a market cap of $5.97 billion, a PE ratio of 21.36, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.99. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. Kirby Co. has a 1-year low of $83.94 and a 1-year high of $132.21.

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 company had revenue of $785.66 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $824.12 million. Kirby had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 8.78%. Kirby’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $1.19 earnings per share. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Kirby Co. will post 6.57 EPS for the current year.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on KEX shares. StockNews.com cut Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price objective on Kirby from $136.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Friday, January 31st. Finally, Bank of America lowered their target price on shares of Kirby from $133.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, March 28th.

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.