Simmons Bank Decreases Stake in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Simmons Bank cut its position in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) by 10.4% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 19,483 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 2,265 shares during the period. Simmons Bank’s holdings in Kirby were worth $1,529,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KEX. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Kirby during the 4th quarter worth $53,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new position in Kirby during the third quarter worth $59,000. AXQ Capital LP purchased a new position in Kirby in the 3rd quarter valued at about $224,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kirby during the third quarter valued at approximately $226,000. Finally, Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kirby during the third quarter worth $239,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kirby

In other Kirby news, VP William Matthew Woodruff sold 3,750 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.25, for a total transaction of $409,687.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $102,804.25. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In other Kirby news, VP William Matthew Woodruff sold 3,750 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.25, for a total transaction of $409,687.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,804.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total value of $1,537,920.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 66,399 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,673,130.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 43,022 shares of company stock valued at $3,911,911. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company’s stock.

Kirby Stock Performance

Shares of KEX stock traded up $1.32 during trading hours on Tuesday, reaching $113.32. The stock had a trading volume of 473,594 shares, compared to its average volume of 425,693. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.01. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $96.58 and a 200-day simple moving average of $85.19. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.63 billion, a PE ratio of 26.79, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.77 and a beta of 1.14. Kirby Co. has a twelve month low of $69.22 and a twelve month high of $114.35.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The shipping company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.22. Kirby had a net margin of 8.01% and a return on equity of 8.00%. The company had revenue of $808.00 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $784.49 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.68 EPS. Kirby’s revenue was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Kirby Co. will post 5.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms recently issued reports on KEX. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kirby from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Wolfe Research initiated coverage on Kirby in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $126.00 price objective on the stock. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on shares of Kirby from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Kirby in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Kirby from $100.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Kirby has a consensus rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $116.00.

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.