Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Buy” by Analysts

Shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) have been assigned a consensus rating of “Buy” from the five brokerages that are presently covering the company, MarketBeat reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 1-year target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $123.80.

Separately, StockNews.com lowered Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th.

Insider Transactions at Kirby

In other news, VP Ronald A. Dragg sold 2,313 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.30, for a total transaction of $294,444.90. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 7,683 shares in the company, valued at $978,045.90. The trade was a 23.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard Ross Stewart sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.21, for a total transaction of $1,025,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 15,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,985,716.48. This represents a 34.06 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 25,354 shares of company stock valued at $3,275,455 over the last three months. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Large investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Farther Finance Advisors LLC grew its stake in Kirby by 420.0% during the 3rd quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 208 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 168 shares in the last quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kirby during the second quarter worth approximately $26,000. ORG Wealth Partners LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kirby during the third quarter worth approximately $30,000. Mark Sheptoff Financial Planning LLC acquired a new position in Kirby in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $37,000. Finally, Brooklyn Investment Group acquired a new position in Kirby in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $42,000. 96.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kirby Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:KEX opened at $104.97 on Friday. Kirby has a twelve month low of $74.88 and a twelve month high of $132.21. 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 firm has a market cap of $6.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.15, a P/E/G ratio of 0.69 and a beta of 1.18. The company has a 50 day moving average of $119.03 and a 200-day moving average of $119.59.

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

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.