Kirby (NYSE:KEX) Shares Down 4.2% – Should You Sell?

Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) shares fell 4.2% on Tuesday . The stock traded as low as $101.40 and last traded at $102.50. 144,488 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 71% from the average session volume of 500,271 shares. The stock had previously closed at $106.99.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Separately, StockNews.com lowered shares of Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, December 18th. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $123.80.

Kirby Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $6.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.18, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $117.70 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $119.24.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 30th. The shipping company reported $1.55 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.47 by $0.08. Kirby had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 9.43%. The firm had revenue of $831.10 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $824.42 million. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $1.05 earnings per share. The business’s revenue was up 8.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Kirby Co. will post 5.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity at Kirby

In other Kirby news, Director Richard Ross Stewart sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction 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 sale, the director now directly owns 15,488 shares in the company, valued at $1,985,716.48. This represents a 34.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Ronald A. Dragg sold 2,313 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.30, for a total value of $294,444.90. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 7,683 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $978,045.90. The trade was a 23.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 25,354 shares of company stock valued at $3,275,455 over the last quarter. 1.50% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kirby

Several large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KEX. State Street Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Kirby by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,667,520 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $204,154,000 after acquiring an additional 12,337 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its position in Kirby by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 961,303 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $117,724,000 after acquiring an additional 2,784 shares in the last quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC raised its stake in shares of Kirby by 33.9% in the second quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 887,384 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $106,246,000 after acquiring an additional 224,802 shares during the last quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Kirby by 5.7% in the second quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 812,283 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $97,255,000 after acquiring an additional 43,685 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kirby by 27.8% during the third quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 699,052 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $85,585,000 after purchasing an additional 152,146 shares in the last quarter. 96.15% 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 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.