Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH Purchases 6,140 Shares of Kirby Corporation $KEX

Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH grew its position in shares of Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX) by 42.3% in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 20,651 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 6,140 shares during the quarter. Universal Beteiligungs und Servicegesellschaft mbH’s holdings in Kirby were worth $2,342,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. TCW Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Kirby by 2.6% during the first quarter. TCW Group Inc. now owns 27,815 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $2,810,000 after acquiring an additional 705 shares in the last quarter. American Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its stake in Kirby by 295.5% during the 1st quarter. American Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 41,845 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $4,227,000 after purchasing an additional 31,265 shares during the last quarter. Blueshift Asset Management LLC bought a new stake in Kirby during the 1st quarter worth approximately $385,000. Voya Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kirby by 19.0% in the first quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 292,236 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $29,519,000 after purchasing an additional 46,673 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 12th Street Asset Management Company LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kirby by 27.5% in the first quarter. 12th Street Asset Management Company LLC now owns 406,149 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $41,025,000 after purchasing an additional 87,646 shares in the last quarter. 96.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KEX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Evercore ISI upped their price target on Kirby from $109.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Citigroup upgraded shares of Kirby from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the stock from $110.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Kirby from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Kirby in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Wall Street Zen raised shares of Kirby from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 1st. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.40.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kirby

In other news, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 29,451 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction on Friday, November 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.41, for a total value of $3,163,331.91. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer directly owned 79,709 shares in the company, valued at approximately $8,561,543.69. The trade was a 26.98% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Ronald A. Dragg sold 2,715 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.29, for a total value of $299,437.35. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 10,325 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,138,744.25. The trade was a 20.82% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 44,502 shares of company stock worth $4,788,691. 0.90% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kirby Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Kirby stock opened at $107.95 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $5.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.03, a P/E/G ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.05. Kirby Corporation has a 52-week low of $79.51 and a 52-week high of $131.30. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.74. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $92.81 and its 200 day simple moving average is $101.89.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The shipping company reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.05. The firm had revenue of $871.16 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $843.29 million. Kirby had a net margin of 9.22% and a return on equity of 10.06%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Kirby Corporation will post 6.57 EPS for the current year.

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.