$473.40 Million in Sales Expected for Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) This Quarter

Equities research analysts expect that Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) will post sales of $473.40 million for the current quarter, according to Zacks Investment Research. Two analysts have issued estimates for Kirby’s earnings, with the highest sales estimate coming in at $476.50 million and the lowest estimate coming in at $470.30 million. Kirby posted sales of $643.93 million during the same quarter last year, which would indicate a negative year over year growth rate of 26.5%. The firm is scheduled to issue its next quarterly earnings report on Tuesday, May 4th.

On average, analysts expect that Kirby will report full-year sales of $2.15 billion for the current financial year, with estimates ranging from $2.08 billion to $2.22 billion. For the next financial year, analysts forecast that the business will post sales of $2.36 billion, with estimates ranging from $2.30 billion to $2.43 billion. Zacks Investment Research’s sales calculations are a mean average based on a survey of sell-side research analysts that follow Kirby.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 28th. The shipping company reported $0.37 EPS for the quarter, topping the Thomson Reuters’ consensus estimate of $0.23 by $0.14. Kirby had a positive return on equity of 3.90% and a negative net margin of 8.27%. The business had revenue of $489.80 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $491.54 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.58 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 25.3% compared to the same quarter last year.

KEX has been the topic of several analyst reports. Bank of America raised shares of Kirby from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and raised their price target for the stock from $42.00 to $54.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 18th. TheStreet raised Kirby from a “d+” rating to a “c” rating in a research report on Thursday, December 3rd. Finally, Zacks Investment Research downgraded Kirby from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating and set a $33.00 target price on the stock. in a report on Tuesday, November 3rd. One research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, one has assigned a hold rating and three have issued a buy rating to the company. Kirby has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $52.00.

KEX traded up $0.28 during trading on Thursday, reaching $64.43. 26,666 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 470,823. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.51, a current ratio of 2.36 and a quick ratio of 1.64. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $56.27 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $47.34. Kirby has a 1 year low of $32.76 and a 1 year high of $72.75. The company has a market capitalization of $3.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -19.99, a P/E/G ratio of 4.27 and a beta of 1.42.

In other Kirby news, Director Monte J. Miller sold 4,276 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $60.78, for a total value of $259,895.28. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 22,498 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,367,428.44. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director William M. Waterman sold 25,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $57.74, for a total transaction of $1,443,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 72,101 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,163,111.74. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 32,674 shares of company stock valued at $1,904,510. 1.70% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of KEX. Eudaimonia Partners LLC acquired a new position in Kirby during the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd bought a new stake in Kirby during the third quarter worth approximately $54,000. Cerebellum GP LLC bought a new stake in Kirby during the third quarter worth approximately $63,000. Fifth Third Bancorp grew its position in Kirby by 20.6% in the third quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 1,762 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $64,000 after buying an additional 301 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Canton Hathaway LLC bought a new position in shares of Kirby in the third quarter valued at $75,000. 90.26% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kirby Company Profile

Kirby Corporation operates domestic tank barges in the United States. Its Marine Transportation segment provides marine transportation services and towing vessels transporting bulk liquid products, as well as operates tank barges throughout the Mississippi River System, on the Gulf Intracoastal Waterway, coastwise along three United States coasts, and in Alaska and Hawaii.

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