Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) Short Interest Up 37.1% in May

Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) was the target of a large increase in short interest in May. As of May 15th, there was short interest totalling 1,590,000 shares, an increase of 37.1% from the April 30th total of 1,160,000 shares. Approximately 2.9% of the shares of the stock are short sold. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 574,200 shares, the short-interest ratio is presently 2.8 days.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Separately, Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Kirby from $116.00 to $125.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, May 16th.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Empowered Funds LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kirby in the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Colonial Trust Co SC raised its position in Kirby by 295.3% in the 4th quarter. Colonial Trust Co SC now owns 253 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $27,000 after purchasing an additional 189 shares during the period. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Kirby in the 1st quarter worth $28,000. KBC Group NV bought a new stake in Kirby in the first quarter worth $32,000. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. boosted its position in Kirby by 147.2% during the first quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 351 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 209 shares during the period. 96.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kirby Trading Up 1.5%

NYSE KEX opened at $113.53 on Wednesday. The company has a quick ratio of 1.05, a current ratio of 1.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.26. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $101.27 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $106.37. Kirby has a twelve month low of $83.94 and a twelve month high of $132.21. The company has a market capitalization of $6.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.12, a PEG ratio of 0.88 and a beta of 0.91.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, May 1st. The shipping company reported $1.33 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.27 by $0.06. The company had revenue of $785.66 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $824.12 million. Kirby had a return on equity of 9.71% and a net margin of 8.78%. Kirby’s revenue for the quarter was down 2.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the firm posted $1.19 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Kirby will post 6.57 EPS 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.