American Century Companies Inc. Acquires 2,788 Shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

American Century Companies Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) by 12.5% during the 2nd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm owned 25,067 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 2,788 shares during the quarter. American Century Companies Inc.’s holdings in Kirby were worth $3,001,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Schroder Investment Management Group grew its holdings in shares of Kirby by 12.2% during the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 630,360 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $49,471,000 after purchasing an additional 68,420 shares during the last quarter. Scout Investments Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kirby by 66.5% in the first quarter. Scout Investments Inc. now owns 108,814 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $10,299,000 after acquiring an additional 43,465 shares during the period. Quadrature Capital Ltd lifted its stake in shares of Kirby by 166.6% in the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 10,934 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $859,000 after acquiring an additional 6,832 shares during the period. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. lifted its stake in shares of Kirby by 21.4% in the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 896,257 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $85,432,000 after acquiring an additional 157,880 shares during the period. Finally, Sei Investments Co. lifted its stake in shares of Kirby by 32.4% in the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 66,833 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $6,371,000 after acquiring an additional 16,373 shares during the period. 96.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kirby Price Performance

Shares of KEX opened at $125.33 on Friday. Kirby Co. has a 52-week low of $72.11 and a 52-week high of $130.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.70. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $118.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $113.00. The firm has a market cap of $7.33 billion, a PE ratio of 29.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.77 and a beta of 1.17.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The shipping company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.11. Kirby had a return on equity of 8.70% and a net margin of 8.72%. The firm had revenue of $824.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $821.65 million. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.95 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Kirby Co. will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kirby

In other Kirby news, COO Christian G. O’neil sold 2,770 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.21, for a total value of $305,281.70. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 16,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,772,066.59. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other news, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 26,358 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.46, for a total transaction of $3,175,084.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 63,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,637,043.54. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, COO Christian G. O’neil sold 2,770 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.21, for a total value of $305,281.70. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 16,079 shares in the company, valued at $1,772,066.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 46,012 shares of company stock valued at $5,571,267. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KEX has been the topic of a number of recent analyst reports. StockNews.com lowered Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 22nd. Bank of America lifted their price objective on Kirby from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kirby currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.80.

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.