Stifel Nicolaus Increases Kirby (NYSE:KEX) Price Target to $118.00

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) had its price objective hoisted by Stifel Nicolaus from $100.00 to $118.00 in a report released on Friday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a buy rating on the shipping company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently commented on KEX. BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of Kirby from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com raised shares of Kirby from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, 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

Shares of KEX opened at $95.83 on Friday. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $5.61 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.60 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $91.22 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $82.95. Kirby has a 12 month low of $66.42 and a 12 month high of $101.17.

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. The business had revenue of $799.18 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $778.70 million. Kirby had a net margin of 7.21% and a return on equity of 7.12%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 9.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $0.67 earnings per share. As a group, analysts predict that Kirby will post 4.94 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Kirby

In related news, VP Scott P. Miller sold 1,828 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.60, for a total value of $145,508.80. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $79,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In other Kirby news, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 7,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 84,399 shares in the company, valued at approximately $7,150,283.28. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Scott P. Miller sold 1,828 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 29th. The shares were sold at an average price of $79.60, for a total transaction of $145,508.80. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $79,600. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 56,418 shares of company stock valued at $4,932,521. 1.50% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kirby

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KEX. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in Kirby by 923.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,248,727 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $273,406,000 after buying an additional 3,833,471 shares during the last quarter. Park West Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kirby during the 4th quarter worth approximately $61,824,000. FIL Ltd increased its stake in shares of Kirby by 435.3% during the 4th quarter. FIL Ltd now owns 818,694 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $64,251,000 after purchasing an additional 665,744 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Kirby during the 4th quarter worth approximately $42,762,000. Finally, FMR LLC increased its stake in shares of Kirby by 30.9% during the 3rd quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,100,068 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $173,886,000 after purchasing an additional 495,541 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other 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.