Kirby (NYSE:KEX) Rating Increased to Buy at StockNews.com

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) was upgraded by StockNews.com from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note issued to investors on Saturday.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the stock. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Kirby from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Kirby from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $123.80.

Kirby Stock Performance

KEX stock opened at $119.03 on Friday. 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 company has a 50 day moving average price of $118.18 and a 200 day moving average price of $111.11. Kirby has a fifty-two week low of $72.11 and a fifty-two week high of $130.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.97 billion, a PE ratio of 28.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.17.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last issued its 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 during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $821.65 million. Kirby had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 8.70%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.95 EPS. Analysts forecast that Kirby will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.31, for a total value of $360,930.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 63,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,627,533.69. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In other news, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 26th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.31, for a total value of $360,930.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 63,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,627,533.69. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, COO Christian G. O’neil sold 2,770 shares of the 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 directly owns 16,079 shares in the company, valued at $1,772,066.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kirby during the 2nd quarter worth approximately $26,000. ORG Partners LLC acquired a new stake in Kirby in the second quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Opal Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new stake in Kirby in the second quarter valued at approximately $33,000. Blue Trust Inc. boosted its position in Kirby by 91.0% in the second quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 296 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 141 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new stake in Kirby in the second quarter valued at approximately $37,000. 96.15% of the stock is 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.