Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board Sells 21,439 Shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board reduced its position in shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX - Free Report) by 78.9% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 5,732 shares of the shipping company's stock after selling 21,439 shares during the period. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board's holdings in Kirby were worth $702,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Janus Henderson Group PLC lifted its stake in shares of Kirby by 10.5% in the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 955,587 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $91,086,000 after acquiring an additional 90,586 shares during the period. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kirby by 33.9% in the second quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 887,384 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $106,246,000 after acquiring an additional 224,802 shares during the period. Hood River Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kirby by 5.7% in the second quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 812,283 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $97,255,000 after acquiring an additional 43,685 shares during the period. Select Equity Group L.P. acquired a new position in shares of Kirby in the second quarter worth approximately $65,928,000. Finally, Millennium Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kirby by 13.1% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 533,326 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $63,855,000 after acquiring an additional 61,573 shares during the period. 96.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Kirby

In other news, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 26,358 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.46, for a total transaction of $3,175,084.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 63,399 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,637,043.54. This represents a 29.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Christian G. O'neil sold 15,041 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $1,955,330.00. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,746 shares in the company, valued at $1,006,980. The trade was a 66.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 68,596 shares of company stock valued at $8,541,440 over the last ninety days. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Kirby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Sunday, September 22nd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kirby presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $123.80.

Kirby Trading Down 0.4 %

KEX traded down $0.51 during trading on Friday, hitting $128.30. The company's stock had a trading volume of 596,358 shares, compared to its average volume of 456,076. Kirby Co. has a twelve month low of $72.11 and a twelve 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 stock's fifty day moving average price is $123.54 and its 200-day moving average price is $120.27. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.36 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.83, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.17.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $1.55 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating 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 firm had revenue of $831.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $824.42 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. The company's revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. Analysts anticipate that Kirby Co. will post 5.45 EPS for the current year.

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.