Entropy Technologies LP Takes $1.14 Million Position in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Entropy Technologies LP acquired a new stake in shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX - Free Report) in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 10,792 shares of the shipping company's stock, valued at approximately $1,142,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently modified their holdings of the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased its stake in shares of Kirby by 27.5% during the 3rd quarter. JPMorgan Chase & Co. now owns 142,265 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $17,418,000 after acquiring an additional 30,713 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its stake in shares of Kirby by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,683 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $818,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Atria Investments Inc increased its stake in shares of Kirby by 27.5% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 35,353 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $4,328,000 after acquiring an additional 7,629 shares during the last quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Kirby by 51.2% during the 3rd quarter. Advantage Alpha Capital Partners LP now owns 48,693 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $5,961,000 after acquiring an additional 16,497 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Artemis Investment Management LLP increased its stake in shares of Kirby by 112.0% during the 4th quarter. Artemis Investment Management LLP now owns 382,835 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $40,504,000 after acquiring an additional 202,272 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.15% of the company's stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KEX has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kirby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Kirby from $136.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Friday, January 31st. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $129.25.

Kirby Stock Up 0.8 %

Shares of KEX traded up $0.89 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $108.47. 455,094 shares of the stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 693,873. Kirby Co. has a 12-month low of $84.56 and a 12-month high of $132.21. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm has a market cap of $6.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.19. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $108.69 and a 200 day simple moving average of $116.85.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The shipping company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.30 by ($0.01). Kirby had a return on equity of 9.78% and a net margin of 8.78%. Sell-side analysts expect that Kirby Co. will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Kirby

In other Kirby news, Director Richard Ross Stewart sold 8,000 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.21, for a total value of $1,025,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 15,488 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,985,716.48. The trade was a 34.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP Scott P. Miller sold 1,244 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.61, for a total transaction of $133,866.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,545 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $596,697.45. This represents a 18.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company's stock.

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.