Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) Short Interest Update

Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX - Get Free Report) was the target of a large increase in short interest in December. As of December 31st, there was short interest totalling 940,700 shares, an increase of 56.8% from the December 15th total of 599,900 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 518,700 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 1.8 days. Approximately 1.7% of the company's shares are sold short.

Insider Activity at Kirby

In other Kirby news, COO Christian G. O'neil sold 15,041 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $1,955,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 7,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,006,980. This represents a 66.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Richard Ross Stewart sold 8,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now owns 15,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,985,716.48. This trade represents a 34.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,354 shares of company stock worth $3,275,455 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.40% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Kirby

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KEX. Choreo LLC acquired a new stake in Kirby during the second quarter worth approximately $305,000. American Century Companies Inc. lifted its holdings in Kirby by 12.5% during the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 25,067 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $3,001,000 after purchasing an additional 2,788 shares during the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new stake in Kirby in the 2nd quarter valued at $175,000. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its holdings in Kirby by 70.7% in the 2nd quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 74,875 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $8,965,000 after buying an additional 31,011 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new position in Kirby during the 2nd quarter worth $1,233,000. Institutional investors own 96.15% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Kirby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 9th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kirby presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $123.80.

Kirby Stock Performance

NYSE:KEX traded up $0.44 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $111.93. The stock had a trading volume of 284,027 shares, compared to its average volume of 633,874. Kirby has a twelve month low of $76.12 and a twelve month high of $132.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market cap of $6.42 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.48, a PEG ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.21. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $116.21 and its 200 day simple moving average is $118.70.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.08. Kirby had a return on equity of 9.43% and a net margin of 9.37%. The company had revenue of $831.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $824.42 million. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $1.05 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Kirby will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current 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.

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