Hodges Capital Management Inc. Raises Holdings in Kirby Corporation $KEX

Hodges Capital Management Inc. increased its holdings in shares of Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX) by 4.6% in the second quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 177,618 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 7,734 shares during the period. Kirby makes up 1.9% of Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 9th largest position. Hodges Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Kirby were worth $20,144,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KEX. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kirby by 0.4% in the first quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 132,089 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $13,342,000 after buying an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. raised its stake in Kirby by 5.3% in the 1st quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 77,641 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $7,842,000 after acquiring an additional 3,924 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. raised its stake in Kirby by 0.3% in the 1st quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 36,597 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,697,000 after acquiring an additional 117 shares during the period. Cerity Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Kirby by 117.7% during the 1st quarter. Cerity Partners LLC now owns 11,922 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,204,000 after purchasing an additional 6,445 shares during the last quarter. Finally, State of Michigan Retirement System boosted its position in Kirby by 1.5% during the first quarter. State of Michigan Retirement System now owns 13,759 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,390,000 after purchasing an additional 200 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

Kirby Price Performance

Shares of Kirby stock opened at $107.71 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.74 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.01 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.05. Kirby Corporation has a twelve month low of $79.51 and a twelve month high of $132.21. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.69 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $101.27.

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

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have recently weighed in on KEX shares. Evercore ISI increased their price objective on shares of Kirby from $109.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Kirby in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Kirby from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Saturday, November 1st. Bank of America reduced their price objective on Kirby from $110.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Citigroup raised Kirby from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $110.00 to $128.00 in a research report on Wednesday. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kirby currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.40.

Kirby Company 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.