Kirby (NYSE:KEX) Director Richard Ross Stewart Sells 1,923 Shares

Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX) Director Richard Ross Stewart sold 1,923 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction on Monday, November 10th. The shares were sold at an average price of $107.83, for a total transaction of $207,357.09. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 15,488 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,670,071.04. This trade represents a 11.04% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link.

Kirby Stock Performance

NYSE:KEX traded up $0.29 during mid-day trading on Wednesday, reaching $110.96. The stock had a trading volume of 173,216 shares, compared to its average volume of 732,243. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.74. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $89.21 and a 200 day simple moving average of $101.43. Kirby Corporation has a twelve month low of $79.51 and a twelve month high of $132.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.19 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.58, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.05.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The shipping company reported $1.65 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.05. Kirby had a return on equity of 10.06% and a net margin of 9.22%.The firm had revenue of $871.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $843.29 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. Kirby’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, analysts expect that Kirby Corporation will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Kirby

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Alliancebernstein L.P. boosted its position in shares of Kirby by 72.5% in the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,282,865 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $258,900,000 after acquiring an additional 959,209 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Kirby during the second quarter valued at about $78,256,000. Hood River Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kirby during the second quarter worth about $73,784,000. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Kirby by 24.8% in the 1st quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 1,954,698 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $197,444,000 after purchasing an additional 389,005 shares during the period. Finally, Park West Asset Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kirby by 69.3% in the 1st quarter. Park West Asset Management LLC now owns 776,000 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $78,384,000 after purchasing an additional 317,721 shares in the last quarter. 96.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KEX has been the subject of a number of research reports. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Kirby from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on Kirby from $109.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Kirby in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Kirby in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Citigroup raised shares of Kirby from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $110.00 to $128.00 in a research note on Wednesday, November 5th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have issued a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $123.40.

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.