ING Groep NV Takes $2.44 Million Position in Kirby Corporation $KEX

ING Groep NV purchased a new stake in shares of Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX) during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund purchased 22,100 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,435,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KEX. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Kirby by 92.0% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,612,119 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $287,803,000 after acquiring an additional 1,251,700 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its position in shares of Kirby by 72.5% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,282,865 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $258,900,000 after acquiring an additional 959,209 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Kirby during the fourth quarter worth $81,355,000. Congress Asset Management Co. bought a new stake in shares of Kirby during the fourth quarter worth $58,385,000. Finally, Appian Way Asset Management LP raised its position in shares of Kirby by 335.8% during the third quarter. Appian Way Asset Management LP now owns 675,546 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $56,374,000 after acquiring an additional 520,535 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup boosted their target price on Kirby from $147.00 to $160.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, April 9th. BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of Kirby from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Kirby from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $158.00 price objective on shares of Kirby in a report on Friday, May 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, May 23rd. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $146.20.

Insider Activity

In other Kirby news, VP William Matthew Woodruff sold 678 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $147.37, for a total value of $99,916.86. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 9 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,326.33. This trade represents a 98.69% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, COO Christian G. O’neil sold 11,287 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.93, for a total transaction of $1,647,111.91. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 17,691 shares of company stock valued at $2,579,036. 0.80% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kirby Trading Up 1.1%

KEX opened at $143.18 on Wednesday. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $143.43 and its two-hundred day moving average is $129.12. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.59. The firm has a market cap of $7.66 billion, a PE ratio of 22.03, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.45 and a beta of 0.81. Kirby Corporation has a twelve month low of $79.51 and a twelve month high of $157.69.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last posted its earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The shipping company reported $1.50 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.41 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $844.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $832.57 million. Kirby had a net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 10.62%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.33 earnings per share. Kirby has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.650-7.280 EPS. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kirby Corporation will post 6.99 EPS for the current year.

Kirby Company Profile

Kirby Corporation is a leading domestic maritime transporter of bulk liquid products in the United States. Through its Marine Transportation segment, the company operates one of North America’s largest fleets of inland tank barges and towing vessels. Kirby’s fleet moves petrochemicals, black oil, refined petroleum products and agricultural chemicals along coastal and inland waterways, providing critical logistical support to energy, chemical and agricultural producers.

In addition to its marine operations, Kirby’s Distribution and Services segment offers diesel engine and power generation services, along with aftermarket parts sales.