Kirby (NYSE:KEX) Upgraded to Buy at StockNews.com

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kirby (NYSE:KEX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report released on Saturday morning.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on KEX. Bank of America lifted their price target on shares of Kirby from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Kirby from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Kirby presently has a consensus rating of Buy and an average target price of $123.80.

Kirby Price Performance

Shares of KEX opened at $122.85 on Friday. Kirby has a twelve month low of $72.11 and a twelve month high of $130.90. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $118.26 and its 200-day simple moving average is $111.59. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 29.04, a PEG ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The shipping company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.11. Kirby had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 8.70%. The firm had revenue of $824.40 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $821.65 million. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.95 EPS. Kirby’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. Equities analysts forecast that Kirby will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kirby

In other Kirby news, COO Christian G. O’neil sold 2,770 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction on Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.21, for a total value of $305,281.70. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 16,079 shares in the company, valued at $1,772,066.59. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other news, COO Christian G. O’neil sold 2,770 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $110.21, for a total value of $305,281.70. Following the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 16,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,772,066.59. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 26,358 shares of Kirby 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 directly owns 63,399 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,637,043.54. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 32,128 shares of company stock worth $3,841,296. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kirby

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Schroder Investment Management Group boosted its holdings in shares of Kirby by 12.2% in the fourth quarter. Schroder Investment Management Group now owns 630,360 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $49,471,000 after acquiring an additional 68,420 shares in the last quarter. Scout Investments Inc. boosted its holdings in Kirby by 66.5% during the first quarter. Scout Investments Inc. now owns 108,814 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $10,299,000 after buying an additional 43,465 shares in the last quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd boosted its holdings in Kirby by 166.6% during the fourth quarter. Quadrature Capital Ltd now owns 10,934 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $859,000 after buying an additional 6,832 shares in the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. boosted its holdings in Kirby by 21.4% during the first quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 896,257 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $85,432,000 after buying an additional 157,880 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Sei Investments Co. boosted its holdings in Kirby by 32.4% during the first quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 66,833 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $6,371,000 after buying an additional 16,373 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

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.