Hudson Bay Capital Management LP Boosts Holdings in Kirby Corporation $KEX

Hudson Bay Capital Management LP increased its position in shares of Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX) by 100.8% during the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 200,507 shares of the shipping company’s stock after buying an additional 100,645 shares during the quarter. Hudson Bay Capital Management LP owned about 0.36% of Kirby worth $22,739,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KEX. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC raised its position in Kirby by 32.4% in the second quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,225,338 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $138,966,000 after purchasing an additional 299,981 shares during the period. Benjamin Edwards Inc. raised its holdings in Kirby by 46.8% in the 2nd quarter. Benjamin Edwards Inc. now owns 12,882 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,461,000 after buying an additional 4,106 shares during the period. Brevan Howard Capital Management LP acquired a new position in Kirby in the second quarter valued at about $868,000. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Kirby by 7.5% during the second quarter. Balyasny Asset Management L.P. now owns 34,608 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $3,925,000 after buying an additional 2,408 shares during the period. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE increased its position in shares of Kirby by 0.8% during the second quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 802,865 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $91,053,000 after acquiring an additional 6,474 shares during the last quarter. 96.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Amy D. Husted sold 10,413 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction dated Friday, November 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.42, for a total value of $1,118,564.46. Following the sale, the vice president owned 11,760 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,263,259.20. The trade was a 46.96% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Richard Ross Stewart sold 1,923 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, November 10th. The stock was sold at an average price of $107.83, for a total transaction of $207,357.09. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 15,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,670,071.04. This represents a 11.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders sold a total of 46,002 shares of company stock worth $4,959,871 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 0.90% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KEX has been the subject of several research reports. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on shares of Kirby from $109.00 to $122.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research upgraded Kirby from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Kirby in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. BTIG Research reiterated a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Kirby in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Bank of America reduced their price objective on Kirby from $110.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kirby has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.40.

Kirby Price Performance

Shares of KEX opened at $111.03 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.08. Kirby Corporation has a 1-year low of $79.51 and a 1-year high of $122.50. The stock has a market cap of $6.02 billion, a PE ratio of 20.60, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.09 and a beta of 0.88. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $100.78 and a 200 day moving average price of $102.39.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The shipping company reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.05. The business had revenue of $871.16 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $843.29 million. Kirby had a return on equity of 10.05% and a net margin of 9.22%.The business’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $1.55 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kirby Corporation will post 6.57 EPS for the current 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.