Covea Finance Purchases Shares of 14,000 Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX)

Covea Finance purchased a new stake in shares of Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor purchased 14,000 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,414,000.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in Kirby during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Colonial Trust Co SC lifted its position in shares of Kirby by 295.3% during the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 253 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $27,000 after buying an additional 189 shares in the last quarter. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kirby during the 1st quarter valued at approximately $28,000. UMB Bank n.a. grew its stake in shares of Kirby by 147.2% during the 1st quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 351 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 209 shares during the period. Finally, Versant Capital Management Inc purchased a new stake in Kirby in the 1st quarter worth approximately $44,000. Institutional investors own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Kirby from $116.00 to $125.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th.

Kirby Trading Down 0.5%

Shares of KEX stock opened at $112.28 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 0.96 and a current ratio of 1.58. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $105.80 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $105.04. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.30 billion, a PE ratio of 22.23, a PEG ratio of 1.00 and a beta of 0.97. Kirby Corporation has a 52-week low of $83.94 and a 52-week high of $132.21.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, May 1st. The shipping company reported $1.33 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.27 by $0.06. Kirby had a return on equity of 9.81% and a net margin of 9.02%. The firm had revenue of $785.66 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $824.12 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.19 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 2.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts predict that Kirby Corporation will post 6.57 EPS for the current fiscal year.

About Kirby

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.