Sanctuary Advisors LLC Invests $1.73 Million in Kirby Corporation $KEX

Sanctuary Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX) during the 2nd quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The fund bought 12,711 shares of the shipping company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,728,000.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in KEX. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Kirby in the second quarter worth $733,274,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its position in Kirby by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,617,538 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $347,829,000 after purchasing an additional 133,030 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. increased its position in Kirby by 92.0% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,612,119 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $287,803,000 after purchasing an additional 1,251,700 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. raised its holdings in Kirby by 72.5% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,282,865 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $258,900,000 after purchasing an additional 959,209 shares in the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP raised its holdings in Kirby by 109.4% in the 4th quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,256,667 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $248,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178,963 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on KEX shares. BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 target price on shares of Kirby in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings raised shares of Kirby from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, August 17th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and issued a $158.00 price objective on shares of Kirby in a report on Friday, May 1st. Wall Street Zen lowered shares of Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Saturday, August 8th. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price objective on Kirby from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, July 31st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $163.20.

Kirby Stock Performance

Shares of Kirby stock opened at $139.26 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.35 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.24 and a beta of 0.84. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $138.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $137.75. Kirby Corporation has a 12 month low of $79.51 and a 12 month high of $157.69.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The shipping company reported $1.67 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.04. The firm had revenue of $922.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $870.38 million. Kirby had a net margin of 10.18% and a return on equity of 10.44%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.67 EPS. Kirby has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.280-7.280 EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Kirby Corporation will post 7.07 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kirby Profile

Kirby Corporation is a leading domestic maritime transporter of bulk liquid products in the United States. Through its Marine Transportation segment, the company operates one of North America’s largest fleets of inland tank barges and towing vessels. Kirby’s fleet moves petrochemicals, black oil, refined petroleum products and agricultural chemicals along coastal and inland waterways, providing critical logistical support to energy, chemical and agricultural producers.

In addition to its marine operations, Kirby’s Distribution and Services segment offers diesel engine and power generation services, along with aftermarket parts sales.