Kirby (NYSE:KEX) Downgraded to Hold at StockNews.com

StockNews.com cut shares of Kirby (NYSE:KEX) from a buy rating to a hold rating in a research note released on Friday.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on KEX. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Kirby from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, May 21st. Bank of America boosted their target price on shares of Kirby from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 23rd. One analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of Moderate Buy and an average price target of $123.80.

Kirby Trading Down 2.5 %

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

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The shipping company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.11. The company had revenue of $824.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate 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 firm posted $0.95 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Kirby will post 5.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

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

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kirby

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KEX. International Assets Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kirby in the 4th quarter worth approximately $1,337,000. Principal Street Partners LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kirby by 24.7% during the 4th quarter. Principal Street Partners LLC now owns 5,284 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $415,000 after purchasing an additional 1,048 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in shares of Kirby by 2.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,624,271 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $205,954,000 after purchasing an additional 62,378 shares in the last quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC grew its stake in Kirby by 17.8% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Personalized Indexing Management LLC now owns 4,516 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $354,000 after buying an additional 684 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its stake in Kirby by 18.6% during the 4th quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 10,247 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $804,000 after buying an additional 1,610 shares during the last quarter. 96.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.