Brokerages Set Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) PT at $123.80

Shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) have been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the five analysts that are presently covering the stock, Marketbeat reports. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating. The average 12-month target price among brokerages that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $123.80.

KEX has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. Bank of America lifted 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. StockNews.com downgraded shares of Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, September 22nd.

Insider Activity

In related 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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,683 shares in the company, valued at approximately $978,045.90. The trade was a 23.14 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Amy D. Husted sold 2,853 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, September 19th. The stock was 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 in the company, valued at $668,131.20. The trade was a 35.08 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 60,596 shares of company stock valued at $7,515,760 in the last 90 days. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kirby

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KEX. State Street Corp raised its stake in shares of Kirby by 0.7% in the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,667,520 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $204,154,000 after buying an additional 12,337 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in Kirby by 0.3% during the third quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 961,303 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $117,724,000 after purchasing an additional 2,784 shares in the last quarter. Janus Henderson Group PLC boosted its position in shares of Kirby by 10.5% in 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 period. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC increased its stake in shares of Kirby by 33.9% in the second quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 887,384 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $106,246,000 after purchasing an additional 224,802 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Hood River Capital Management LLC raised its position in shares of Kirby by 5.7% during the 2nd quarter. Hood River Capital Management LLC now owns 812,283 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $97,255,000 after purchasing an additional 43,685 shares during the period. 96.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kirby Trading Down 0.4 %

NYSE:KEX opened at $127.58 on Thursday. Kirby has a one year low of $72.11 and a one year high of $132.04. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $122.45 and its 200 day simple moving average is $119.89. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.32 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.86, a PEG ratio of 0.76 and a beta of 1.17. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.05.

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