Franklin Resources Inc. Takes $5.14 Million Position in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Franklin Resources Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The institutional investor bought 41,503 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,136,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KEX. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Kirby by 420.0% during the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 208 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kirby during the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Kirby in the 3rd quarter valued at about $30,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kirby in the 2nd quarter valued at about $37,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kirby during the second quarter worth about $38,000. 96.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Activity

In other Kirby news, Director Richard Ross Stewart sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $128.21, for a total transaction of $1,025,680.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,985,716.48. This trade represents a 34.06 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Ronald A. Dragg sold 2,313 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $127.30, for a total value of $294,444.90. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $978,045.90. This represents a 23.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders sold 25,354 shares of company stock valued at $3,275,455. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com cut shares of Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kirby has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.80.

Kirby Stock Performance

Shares of KEX opened at $105.71 on Tuesday. The company has a market capitalization of $6.07 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.18. Kirby Co. has a 52-week low of $74.88 and a 52-week 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 has a 50 day moving average price of $121.69 and a 200 day moving average price of $120.31.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.08. Kirby had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 9.43%. The firm had revenue of $831.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $824.42 million. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.05 EPS. The company’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts predict that Kirby Co. will post 5.45 EPS for the current fiscal 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.