Heartland Advisors Inc. Decreases Stock Position in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Heartland Advisors Inc. trimmed its position in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) by 13.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 61,037 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 9,281 shares during the quarter. Heartland Advisors Inc. owned about 0.11% of Kirby worth $6,458,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KEX. State Street Corp increased its stake in shares of Kirby by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,667,520 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $204,154,000 after purchasing an additional 12,337 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Kirby by 0.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 961,303 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $117,724,000 after purchasing an additional 2,784 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Kirby in the 4th quarter valued at $74,293,000. Victory Capital Management Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kirby by 10.2% in the 4th quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 525,708 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $55,620,000 after acquiring an additional 48,475 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Kirby by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 415,042 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $43,911,000 after buying an additional 10,486 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Scott P. Miller sold 1,244 shares of the business’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 sale, the vice president now owns 5,545 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,697.45. The trade was a 18.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. 0.90% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms have issued reports on KEX. StockNews.com lowered Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Bank of America dropped their price objective on Kirby from $133.00 to $123.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus reduced their price target on shares of Kirby from $136.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $124.75.

Kirby Stock Performance

NYSE:KEX opened at $100.77 on Friday. The company has a market cap of $5.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.52, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $104.15 and its two-hundred day moving average is $113.63. Kirby Co. has a fifty-two week low of $93.63 and a fifty-two week high of $132.21.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The shipping company reported $1.29 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.30 by ($0.01). Kirby had a net margin of 8.78% and a return on equity of 9.71%. Analysts expect that Kirby Co. will post 6.57 EPS for the current 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.