Natixis Advisors LLC Has $6.94 Million Position in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Natixis Advisors LLC reduced its holdings in shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) by 43.5% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 65,604 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 50,542 shares during the period. Natixis Advisors LLC’s holdings in Kirby were worth $6,941,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also made changes to their positions in the company. Empowered Funds LLC acquired a new position in Kirby in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Brooklyn Investment Group bought a new position in shares of Kirby in the third quarter worth about $42,000. R Squared Ltd bought a new position in shares of Kirby in the fourth quarter worth about $76,000. Virtus Fund Advisers LLC raised its stake in shares of Kirby by 38.8% in the third quarter. Virtus Fund Advisers LLC now owns 833 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $102,000 after acquiring an additional 233 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hilltop Holdings Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kirby in the third quarter worth about $202,000. 96.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Scott P. Miller sold 1,244 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.61, for a total value of $133,866.84. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,545 shares in the company, valued at $596,697.45. This represents a 18.32 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KEX has been the subject of a number of recent research reports. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price target on shares of Kirby from $136.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research note on Friday, January 31st. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and four have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kirby presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $129.25.

Kirby Stock Down 0.4 %

Shares of NYSE:KEX opened at $100.11 on Friday. Kirby Co. has a 52 week low of $90.91 and a 52 week high of $132.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.45. The company has a market capitalization of $5.70 billion, a PE ratio of 20.39, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $104.73 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $114.18.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The shipping company reported $1.29 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.30 by ($0.01). Kirby had a net margin of 8.78% and a return on equity of 9.71%. Analysts forecast that Kirby Co. will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current 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.