Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) Receives Average Rating of “Buy” from Brokerages

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

Several brokerages have recently commented on KEX. StockNews.com lowered shares of Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 22nd. Bank of America boosted their price target on Kirby from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd.

Kirby Stock Up 1.4 %

Shares of Kirby stock opened at $125.50 on Friday. Kirby has a 1 year low of $72.11 and a 1 year high of $130.90. The company has a market cap of $7.27 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.65, a P/E/G ratio of 0.75 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $120.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $117.49.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The shipping company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.11. Kirby had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 8.70%. The business had revenue of $824.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $821.65 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. Kirby’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Kirby will post 5.46 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kirby

In other news, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 26,358 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was 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. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other news, VP Amy D. Husted sold 2,853 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The shares were sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total transaction of $361,018.62. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 5,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $668,131.20. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 26,358 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.46, for a total value of $3,175,084.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 63,399 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,637,043.54. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 46,012 shares of company stock worth $5,571,267 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kirby

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. International Assets Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kirby during the second quarter valued at approximately $26,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC bought a new stake in Kirby in the 3rd quarter valued at $30,000. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kirby in the 2nd quarter valued at $32,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kirby during the 2nd quarter worth about $33,000. Finally, Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kirby by 91.0% during the 2nd quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 296 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $35,000 after acquiring an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. 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.