StockNews.com Lowers Kirby (NYSE:KEX) to Hold

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

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

Kirby Stock Down 2.5 %

Kirby stock opened at $114.52 on Friday. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $118.80 and its 200 day moving average price is $109.56. 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 has a market cap 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. Kirby has a 52 week low of $72.11 and a 52 week high of $130.90.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, August 1st. The shipping company reported $1.43 EPS 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 analysts’ expectations of $821.65 million. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.95 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kirby will post 5.44 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kirby

In related news, COO Christian G. O’neil sold 2,770 shares of the company’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 transaction, the chief operating officer now owns 16,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,772,066.59. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other Kirby 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 value of $360,930.00. Following the transaction, 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 legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, COO Christian G. O’neil sold 2,770 shares of the company’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 sale, the chief operating officer now directly 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. Insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its position in Kirby by 1.4% during the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,097,723 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $478,549,000 after buying an additional 81,808 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Kirby by 2.4% during the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,624,271 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $205,954,000 after acquiring an additional 62,378 shares during the period. Wellington Management Group LLP boosted its position in shares of Kirby by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,828,758 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $143,521,000 after acquiring an additional 63,611 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kirby by 4.1% in the first quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,401,844 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $133,624,000 after purchasing an additional 54,755 shares during the period. Finally, Janus Henderson Group PLC increased its position in Kirby by 10.5% during the first quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC now owns 955,587 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $91,086,000 after purchasing an additional 90,586 shares during the last quarter. 96.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.