Peregrine Capital Management LLC Acquires 9,562 Shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Peregrine Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) by 13.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 82,578 shares of the shipping company’s stock after purchasing an additional 9,562 shares during the period. Peregrine Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Kirby were worth $8,737,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. CWM LLC raised its stake in shares of Kirby by 186.2% in the 3rd quarter. CWM LLC now owns 3,474 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $425,000 after purchasing an additional 2,260 shares during the period. Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Kirby by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,683 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $818,000 after purchasing an additional 147 shares during the period. Blue Trust Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kirby by 158.4% in the 3rd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 765 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $92,000 after purchasing an additional 469 shares during the period. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC raised its stake in shares of Kirby by 40.7% in the 3rd quarter. Allspring Global Investments Holdings LLC now owns 115,049 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $14,085,000 after purchasing an additional 33,267 shares during the period. Finally, Signaturefd LLC raised its stake in shares of Kirby by 72.7% in the 3rd quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 1,544 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $189,000 after purchasing an additional 650 shares during the period. 96.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, VP Scott P. Miller sold 1,244 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.61, for a total value of $133,866.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,545 shares in the company, valued at approximately $596,697.45. This trade represents a 18.32 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

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

Kirby Price Performance

NYSE:KEX opened at $108.47 on Tuesday. 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’s 50-day simple moving average is $108.29 and its 200 day simple moving average is $116.66. The company has a market cap of $6.23 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.09, a P/E/G ratio of 0.89 and a beta of 1.19. Kirby Co. has a 52-week low of $84.56 and a 52-week high of $132.21.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last released its earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The shipping company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.30 by ($0.01). Kirby had a net margin of 8.78% and a return on equity of 9.78%. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kirby Co. will post 6.54 EPS for the current fiscal 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.