Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) Given Average Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the five brokerages that are covering the company, Marketbeat.com reports. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $123.80.

KEX has been the topic of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America raised their target price on 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 objective on Kirby from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, StockNews.com downgraded Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Friday.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kirby

In other 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 value of $360,930.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now owns 63,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,627,533.69. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. In other news, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.31, for a total transaction of $360,930.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now 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 accessible through this link. Also, COO Christian G. O’neil sold 2,770 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.21, for a total transaction of $305,281.70. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 16,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,772,066.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kirby

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Park West Asset Management LLC purchased a new position in Kirby in the 4th quarter worth approximately $61,824,000. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Kirby in the fourth quarter worth $51,781,000. Select Equity Group L.P. bought a new position in shares of Kirby during the second quarter valued at $65,928,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kirby during the first quarter valued at $22,877,000. Finally, Encompass Capital Advisors LLC boosted its position in shares of Kirby by 33.9% during the second quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 887,384 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $106,246,000 after buying an additional 224,802 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

Kirby Price Performance

Shares of Kirby stock opened at $114.52 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.70 billion, a P/E ratio of 27.07, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.74 and a beta of 1.17. Kirby has a one year low of $72.11 and a one year high of $130.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $118.80 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $109.56.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The shipping company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $824.40 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $821.65 million. Kirby had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 8.70%. The firm’s revenue was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 EPS. Analysts forecast that Kirby will post 5.44 EPS for the current year.

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.