Principal Financial Group Inc. Reduces Stake in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) by 31.0% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 134,022 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 60,098 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned approximately 0.23% of Kirby worth $16,408,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Farther Finance Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Kirby by 420.0% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 208 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 168 shares during the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Kirby in the second quarter worth about $26,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Kirby in the third quarter worth about $30,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC bought a new stake in Kirby in the second quarter worth about $37,000. Finally, Hantz Financial Services Inc. bought a new stake in Kirby in the second quarter worth about $38,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

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

Insider Activity

In other news, VP Ronald A. Dragg sold 2,313 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the vice president now owns 7,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $978,045.90. The trade was a 23.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, 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 completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,985,716.48. This trade represents a 34.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 25,354 shares of company stock valued at $3,275,455. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Kirby Stock Performance

Kirby stock opened at $105.98 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $120.37 and a 200-day moving average price of $119.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.67. Kirby Co. has a fifty-two week low of $74.88 and a fifty-two week high of $132.21. The company has a market capitalization of $6.08 billion, a PE ratio of 20.34, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.18.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $824.42 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $1.05 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Kirby Co. will post 5.45 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.