Mackenzie Financial Corp Increases Position in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Mackenzie Financial Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) by 10.2% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,705 shares of the shipping company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,087 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp’s holdings in Kirby were worth $919,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kirby in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $53,000. NBC Securities Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kirby in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $59,000. AXQ Capital LP purchased a new stake in shares of Kirby in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $224,000. Panagora Asset Management Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kirby in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $226,000. Finally, Vestmark Advisory Solutions Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kirby in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $239,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Scott P. Miller sold 487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.78, for a total value of $48,592.86. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,780. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, VP Scott P. Miller sold 487 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.78, for a total value of $48,592.86. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at approximately $99,780. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, insider Dorman Lynn Strahan sold 3,423 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The shares were sold at an average price of $95.11, for a total transaction of $325,561.53. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,054 shares in the company, valued at $2,002,445.94. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 56,418 shares of company stock worth $4,932,521 in the last ninety days. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Kirby in a research report on Monday, February 5th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Kirby from $100.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, April 19th. BTIG Research increased their price objective on shares of Kirby from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Kirby in a research report on Monday. They set an “outperform” rating and a $126.00 price objective for the company. Finally, StockNews.com raised shares of Kirby from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $116.00.

Kirby Price Performance

Kirby stock opened at $112.10 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.56 billion, a PE ratio of 30.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.72 and a beta of 1.21. Kirby Co. has a 52-week low of $66.42 and a 52-week high of $114.35. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company’s 50 day moving average is $92.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $83.56.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The shipping company reported $1.04 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.01. The company had revenue of $799.18 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $778.70 million. Kirby had a net margin of 7.21% and a return on equity of 7.12%. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.67 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Kirby Co. will post 4.93 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.