Jennison Associates LLC Sells 254,429 Shares of Kirby Corporation $KEX

Jennison Associates LLC decreased its stake in Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX) by 19.6% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 1,045,674 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 254,429 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC’s holdings in Kirby were worth $118,590,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Ethic Inc. raised its position in shares of Kirby by 3.1% in the second quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 3,236 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $372,000 after purchasing an additional 98 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group raised its position in shares of Kirby by 40.7% in the first quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 394 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $40,000 after purchasing an additional 114 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its position in shares of Kirby by 0.3% in the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 36,597 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,697,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Parallel Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Kirby by 49.4% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 366 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. Finally, GAMMA Investing LLC raised its position in shares of Kirby by 21.9% in the second quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 819 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $93,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

Kirby Stock Performance

Kirby stock opened at $88.78 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $87.62 and its 200 day simple moving average is $100.69. The company has a current ratio of 1.74, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The firm has a market capitalization of $4.95 billion, a PE ratio of 16.78, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.92 and a beta of 1.00. Kirby Corporation has a 1-year low of $79.51 and a 1-year high of $132.21.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. Kirby had a net margin of 9.25% and a return on equity of 10.02%. The business had revenue of $855.46 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $851.94 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.43 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Kirby Corporation will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently issued reports on KEX shares. Citigroup started coverage on shares of Kirby in a research report on Monday, September 22nd. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $91.00 price target on the stock. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Kirby in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Zacks Research raised shares of Kirby from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research 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 decreased their target price on shares of Kirby from $122.00 to $109.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, October 9th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $113.40.

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.