Hodges Capital Management Inc. Decreases Stake in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Hodges Capital Management Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) by 18.8% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 44,307 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 10,250 shares during the period. Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Kirby were worth $5,425,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of KEX. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Kirby by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,667,520 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $204,154,000 after purchasing an additional 12,337 shares during the last quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC boosted its stake in Kirby by 33.9% during the second quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 887,384 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $106,246,000 after buying an additional 224,802 shares during the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Kirby by 5.7% in the 2nd quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 812,283 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $97,255,000 after buying an additional 43,685 shares in the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its holdings in Kirby by 27.8% in the 3rd quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 699,052 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $85,585,000 after buying an additional 152,146 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Select Equity Group L.P. acquired a new stake in shares of Kirby in the 2nd quarter worth $65,928,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kirby news, VP Amy D. Husted sold 2,853 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total value of $361,018.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,280 shares in the company, valued at $668,131.20. The trade was a 35.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 26,358 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.46, for a total value of $3,175,084.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 63,399 shares in the company, valued at $7,637,043.54. This represents a 29.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 68,596 shares of company stock valued at $8,541,440. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Kirby Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of Kirby stock opened at $119.01 on Friday. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $123.91 and a 200 day moving average of $121.02. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.84, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.18. Kirby Co. has a fifty-two week low of $72.11 and a fifty-two week high of $132.21.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $831.10 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $824.42 million. Kirby had a return on equity of 9.43% and a net margin of 9.37%. The company’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.05 EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Kirby Co. will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Sunday, September 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have given a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kirby has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.80.

Kirby 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.