TCW Group Inc. Sells 2,582 Shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX)

TCW Group Inc. lowered its stake in Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) by 11.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 20,028 shares of the shipping company’s stock after selling 2,582 shares during the quarter. TCW Group Inc.’s holdings in Kirby were worth $2,452,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KEX. Farther Finance Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Kirby by 420.0% during the 3rd 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 acquired a new position in Kirby during the second quarter worth $26,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Kirby during the third quarter worth $30,000. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Kirby in the second quarter valued at $32,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. grew its position in shares of Kirby by 91.0% in the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 296 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 26,358 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 63,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,637,043.54. This trade represents a 29.37 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Ronald A. Dragg sold 2,313 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction dated Thursday, November 7th. The stock was 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 $978,045.90. This trade represents a 23.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 68,596 shares of company stock worth $8,541,440 over the last three months. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Separately, StockNews.com raised shares of Kirby from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday. Six equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $123.80.

Kirby Stock Up 0.0 %

KEX opened at $117.91 on Friday. 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 stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $123.57 and its 200 day simple moving average is $120.91. Kirby Co. has a 1-year low of $72.74 and a 1-year high of $132.21. The stock has a market cap of $6.77 billion, a PE ratio of 22.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.18.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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. The company had revenue of $831.10 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $824.42 million. Kirby had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 9.43%. The company’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $1.05 earnings per share. As a group, research analysts expect that Kirby Co. will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current year.

About Kirby

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.