Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey Boosts Stake in Kirby Corporation $KEX

Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey raised its position in Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX) by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 21,642 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 886 shares during the period. Police & Firemen s Retirement System of New Jersey’s holdings in Kirby were worth $2,454,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bailard Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kirby during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $692,000. Hodges Capital Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Kirby by 4.6% in the second quarter. Hodges Capital Management Inc. now owns 177,618 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $20,144,000 after acquiring an additional 7,734 shares during the last quarter. AGF Management Ltd. raised its position in Kirby by 5.5% in the second quarter. AGF Management Ltd. now owns 32,793 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,719,000 after purchasing an additional 1,700 shares during the period. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in Kirby by 466.7% in the 2nd quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 374 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $42,000 after buying an additional 308 shares during the period. Finally, Fox Run Management L.L.C. acquired a new position in shares of Kirby in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $259,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Citigroup raised Kirby from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their target price for the stock from $110.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 target price on shares of Kirby in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Zacks Research upgraded Kirby from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Kirby in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Evercore ISI increased their price objective on Kirby from $109.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kirby presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kirby

In other news, Director Richard Ross Stewart sold 1,923 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.83, for a total value of $207,357.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,488 shares in the company, valued at $1,670,071.04. This trade represents a 11.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Ronald A. Dragg sold 2,715 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.29, for a total transaction of $299,437.35. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 10,325 shares in the company, valued at $1,138,744.25. This represents a 20.82% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kirby Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE:KEX opened at $107.44 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.82 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.93, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.05. Kirby Corporation has a 1 year low of $79.51 and a 1 year high of $132.21. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $91.14 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $101.78. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.74.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The shipping company reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.05. Kirby had a return on equity of 10.06% and a net margin of 9.22%.The business had revenue of $871.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $843.29 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate 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.