Kirby (NYSE:KEX) Posts Quarterly Earnings Results, Beats Estimates By $0.11 EPS

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday. The shipping company reported $1.43 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.11, Briefing.com reports. Kirby had a return on equity of 8.75% and a net margin of 8.72%. The company had revenue of $824.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $821.65 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.95 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year.

Kirby Trading Down 3.3 %

Shares of Kirby stock traded down $3.72 on Friday, reaching $109.98. 744,760 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 551,399. The company has a market capitalization of $6.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.18. Kirby has a 52 week low of $72.11 and a 52 week high of $130.90. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $120.33 and its two-hundred day moving average is $103.71. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.81.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kirby news, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.31, for a total transaction of $360,930.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 63,399 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,627,533.69. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.31, for a total value of $360,930.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 63,399 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,627,533.69. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director William M. Waterman sold 10,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.51, for a total value of $1,145,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 77,316 shares in the company, valued at $8,853,455.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 28,893 shares of company stock worth $3,412,856. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on KEX shares. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Kirby from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. Bank of America upped their price objective on Kirby from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Kirby from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research initiated coverage on shares of Kirby in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $126.00 target price for the company. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, Kirby currently has an average rating of “Buy” and an average target price of $123.80.

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.