Short Interest in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) Drops By 9.7%

Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) saw a significant drop in short interest during the month of November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 797,100 shares, a drop of 9.7% from the October 31st total of 882,800 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 438,600 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 1.8 days. Currently, 1.4% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 26,358 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.46, for a total transaction of $3,175,084.68. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now owns 63,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,637,043.54. This represents a 29.37 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Christian G. O’neil sold 14,031 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, September 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $123.29, for a total transaction of $1,729,881.99. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 12,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,571,454.34. The trade was a 52.40 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 68,596 shares of company stock worth $8,541,440. 1.40% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kirby

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. SG Americas Securities LLC increased its holdings in Kirby by 201.8% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 16,213 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,941,000 after acquiring an additional 10,841 shares during the last quarter. Quest Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Kirby by 1,247.8% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 12,373 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,481,000 after buying an additional 11,455 shares in the last quarter. Tidal Investments LLC bought a new position in Kirby during the first quarter valued at approximately $755,000. First Hawaiian Bank purchased a new position in Kirby during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $852,000. Finally, Samlyn Capital LLC increased its stake in Kirby by 7.8% in the 2nd quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 319,752 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $38,284,000 after acquiring an additional 23,086 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, September 22nd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.80.

Kirby Price Performance

Kirby stock traded down $1.51 during mid-day trading on Tuesday, hitting $123.38. The stock had a trading volume of 557,882 shares, compared to its average volume of 456,035. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $124.14 and its 200 day moving average is $121.02. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.08 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.68, a P/E/G ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.18. Kirby has a one year low of $72.11 and a one year high of $132.21.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.08. The firm had revenue of $831.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $824.42 million. Kirby had a return on equity of 9.43% and a net margin of 9.37%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.05 earnings per share. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Kirby will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal 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.