Kirby (NYSE:KEX) Upgraded at StockNews.com

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

KEX has been the topic of several other research reports. Stephens restated an overweight rating and set a $105.00 price target on shares of Kirby in a research report on Monday, February 5th. BTIG Research lifted their target price 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.

Kirby Price Performance

NYSE KEX opened at $95.83 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a current ratio of 1.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $91.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $82.85. Kirby has a 52-week low of $66.42 and a 52-week high of $101.17. The company has a market cap of $5.61 billion, a PE ratio of 25.76, a P/E/G ratio of 1.61 and a beta of 1.21.

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

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kirby news, VP Scott P. Miller sold 1,828 shares of Kirby 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other Kirby news, VP Scott P. Miller sold 1,828 shares of Kirby 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 1,000 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $79,600. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP Scott P. Miller sold 487 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $99.78, for a total transaction of $48,592.86. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 1,000 shares in the company, valued at $99,780. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 56,418 shares of company stock valued at $4,932,521 over the last ninety days. Company insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Coppell Advisory Solutions Corp. acquired a new position in shares of Kirby in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Point72 Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new position in shares of Kirby in the 1st quarter valued at $47,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kirby in the 4th quarter valued at $53,000. Quest Partners LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kirby in the 4th quarter valued at $58,000. Finally, NBC Securities Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kirby in the 3rd quarter valued at $59,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.