Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) Given Consensus Rating of “Buy” by Analysts

Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) has received a consensus rating of “Buy” from the five research firms that are presently covering the firm, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average twelve-month price objective among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $123.80.

Separately, StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kirby from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday.

Kirby Stock Down 0.3 %

KEX opened at $117.51 on Monday. Kirby has a fifty-two week low of $74.88 and a fifty-two week high of $132.21. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a current ratio of 1.67. The stock has a market cap of $6.75 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.54, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.18. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $123.57 and its 200 day moving average is $120.91.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $1.55 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.47 by $0.08. Kirby had a return on equity of 9.43% and a net margin of 9.37%. The business had revenue of $831.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $824.42 million. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $1.05 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.7% on a year-over-year basis. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Kirby will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at Kirby

In other news, Director Richard Ross Stewart sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.21, for a total value of $1,025,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,985,716.48. This trade represents a 34.06 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 26,358 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.46, for a total value of $3,175,084.68. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 63,399 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,637,043.54. This represents a 29.37 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 68,596 shares of company stock worth $8,541,440 in the last three months. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kirby

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KEX. SG Americas Securities LLC raised its position in Kirby by 201.8% in the 2nd quarter. SG Americas Securities LLC now owns 16,213 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,941,000 after purchasing an additional 10,841 shares during the period. Quest Partners LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kirby by 1,247.8% in the second quarter. Quest Partners LLC now owns 12,373 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $1,481,000 after buying an additional 11,455 shares during the period. Samlyn Capital LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kirby by 7.8% during the 2nd quarter. Samlyn Capital LLC now owns 319,752 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $38,284,000 after acquiring an additional 23,086 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning lifted its stake in shares of Kirby by 2.2% during the 3rd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,683 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $818,000 after acquiring an additional 147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Atria Investments Inc boosted its holdings in Kirby by 27.5% during the 3rd quarter. Atria Investments Inc now owns 35,353 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $4,328,000 after acquiring an additional 7,629 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

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.