Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) Sees Significant Increase in Short Interest

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

Insider Transactions at Kirby

In other Kirby news, Director Richard Ross Stewart sold 8,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.21, for a total transaction of $1,025,680.00. Following 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 position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Ronald A. Dragg sold 2,313 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.30, for a total transaction of $294,444.90. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $978,045.90. This represents a 23.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 25,354 shares of company stock valued at $3,275,455 in the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kirby

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

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

Kirby Price Performance

Kirby stock traded up $0.78 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $112.27. 321,293 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 635,307. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. Kirby has a twelve month low of $76.12 and a twelve month high of $132.21. The company has a market cap of $6.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.56, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.52 and a beta of 1.21. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $116.21 and a two-hundred day moving average of $118.70.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.08. The business had revenue of $831.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $824.42 million. Kirby had a return on equity of 9.43% and a net margin of 9.37%. Kirby’s revenue for the quarter was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.05 EPS. Equities analysts expect that Kirby will post 5.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kirby Company 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.