VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al Acquires New Position in Kirby Corporation $KEX

VIRGINIA RETIREMENT SYSTEMS ET Al acquired a new stake in Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 19,280 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,530,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Pension & Wealth Management Advisors Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kirby in the third quarter worth $45,000. Root Financial Partners LLC lifted its position in Kirby by 182.9% during the first quarter. Root Financial Partners LLC now owns 430 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $57,000 after purchasing an additional 278 shares during the period. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in Kirby by 488.9% during the second quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 477 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $65,000 after purchasing an additional 396 shares during the period. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Kirby by 18.2% in the first quarter. Annis Gardner Whiting Capital Advisors LLC now owns 520 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $69,000 after purchasing an additional 80 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Kirby by 18.4% in the fourth quarter. Rockefeller Capital Management L.P. now owns 1,079 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $119,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

Kirby Stock Performance

KEX opened at $141.09 on Wednesday. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $137.43 and a 200 day moving average price of $136.77. Kirby Corporation has a 1 year low of $102.64 and a 1 year high of $157.69. The stock has a market cap of $7.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.26, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a current ratio of 1.68 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 28th. The shipping company reported $2.09 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $977.21 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $938.84 million. Kirby had a net margin of 10.39% and a return on equity of 10.94%. The firm’s revenue was up 12.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business earned $1.65 earnings per share. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kirby Corporation will post 7.26 earnings per share for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have weighed in on the company. Stephens increased their price target on Kirby from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 29th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $170.00 target price on shares of Kirby in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Citigroup lowered their target price on Kirby from $170.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Thursday, October 8th. Wall Street Zen lowered Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Weiss Ratings upgraded Kirby from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Monday, September 14th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.43.

About Kirby

Kirby Corporation is a Houston-based marine transportation and industrial services company. Through its marine transportation operations, the company is the largest tank barge operator in the United States, transporting bulk liquid products on the nation’s inland and coastal waterways.

Kirby’s marine transportation business carries petrochemicals, refined petroleum products, black oil, agricultural chemicals and other bulk liquids for industrial customers. Its operations primarily serve the U.S.