Chesapeake Capital Corp IL Sells 2,643 Shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Chesapeake Capital Corp IL lowered its position in shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) by 53.3% during the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 2,316 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 2,643 shares during the quarter. Chesapeake Capital Corp IL’s holdings in Kirby were worth $245,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of the company. State Street Corp boosted its position in Kirby by 0.7% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,667,520 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $204,154,000 after acquiring an additional 12,337 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Kirby by 0.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 961,303 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $117,724,000 after acquiring an additional 2,784 shares during the last quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. boosted its position in Kirby by 27.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 699,052 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $85,585,000 after acquiring an additional 152,146 shares during the last quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. boosted its position in Kirby by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Victory Capital Management Inc. now owns 525,708 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $55,620,000 after acquiring an additional 48,475 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Kirby by 2.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 415,042 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $43,911,000 after acquiring an additional 10,486 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

Kirby Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KEX opened at $98.88 on Wednesday. The firm’s 50-day moving average price is $104.91 and its 200-day moving average price is $114.38. Kirby Co. has a 1-year low of $88.75 and a 1-year high of $132.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $5.63 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.14, a P/E/G ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a current ratio of 1.45, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last posted its 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 9.71% and a net margin of 8.78%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kirby Co. will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Scott P. Miller sold 1,244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.61, for a total value of $133,866.84. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 5,545 shares in the company, valued at $596,697.45. This represents a 18.32 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KEX has been the topic of several research reports. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Kirby from $136.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday, January 31st. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have given a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.25.

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.