StockNews.com Upgrades Kirby (NYSE:KEX) to “Buy”

StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kirby (NYSE:KEX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report report published on Monday.

Separately, Stephens reissued an overweight rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Kirby in a research report on Monday, February 5th.

Kirby Stock Performance

NYSE KEX opened at $95.33 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $5.57 billion, a PE ratio of 25.63, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.20. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The business’s 50-day moving average price is $86.12 and its 200 day moving average price is $81.50. Kirby has a twelve month low of $66.42 and a twelve month high of $95.79.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, February 1st. The shipping company reported $1.04 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.03 by $0.01. Kirby had a return on equity of 7.12% and a net margin of 7.21%. The firm had revenue of $799.18 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $778.70 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.67 earnings per share. Kirby’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.5% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Kirby will post 4.94 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 7,000 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.72, for a total value of $593,040.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,399 shares in the company, valued at $7,150,283.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Kirby news, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 7,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.72, for a total transaction of $593,040.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 84,399 shares in the company, valued at $7,150,283.28. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Ronald A. Dragg sold 1,413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $84.68, for a total transaction of $119,652.84. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 10,651 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $901,926.68. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 55,931 shares of company stock worth $4,883,929 in the last quarter. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kirby

Several institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of KEX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in Kirby by 1.1% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,015,915 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $498,118,000 after acquiring an additional 64,420 shares during the last quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Kirby by 2.4% in the 3rd quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 714,337 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $59,147,000 after acquiring an additional 16,685 shares during the last quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kirby by 168.1% in the 3rd quarter. Campbell & CO Investment Adviser LLC now owns 10,891 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $902,000 after acquiring an additional 6,828 shares during the last quarter. Scout Investments Inc. acquired a new stake in shares of Kirby in the 3rd quarter worth about $6,191,000. Finally, EAM Investors LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kirby in the 3rd quarter worth about $1,621,000. Institutional investors own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

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.