Stifel Nicolaus Raises Kirby (NYSE:KEX) Price Target to $132.00

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) had its target price raised by Stifel Nicolaus from $131.00 to $132.00 in a report issued on Tuesday morning, Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a buy rating on the shipping company’s stock.

Other analysts have also recently issued research reports about the company. Stephens reiterated an overweight rating and set a $105.00 price objective on shares of Kirby in a research report on Monday, February 5th. BTIG Research upped their price objective on Kirby from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd. StockNews.com upgraded Kirby from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Finally, Wolfe Research started coverage on Kirby in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. They issued an outperform rating and a $126.00 price target for the company. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus price target of $119.50.

Kirby Trading Down 0.8 %

Shares of NYSE:KEX opened at $121.19 on Tuesday. The company has a market cap of $7.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.65, a PEG ratio of 0.81 and a beta of 1.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 1.12. Kirby has a 1 year low of $71.21 and a 1 year high of $123.53. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $102.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $88.19.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The shipping company reported $1.19 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.22. The company had revenue of $808.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $784.49 million. Kirby had a return on equity of 7.96% and a net margin of 8.01%. Kirby’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.68 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Kirby will post 5.29 earnings per share for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kirby news, insider Dorman Lynn Strahan sold 3,423 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.11, for a total value of $325,561.53. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,054 shares in the company, valued at $2,002,445.94. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. In related news, insider Dorman Lynn Strahan sold 3,423 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.11, for a total transaction of $325,561.53. Following the completion of the sale, the insider now owns 21,054 shares in the company, valued at $2,002,445.94. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director Richard J. Alario sold 2,500 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $121.39, for a total value of $303,475.00. Following the sale, the director now owns 25,317 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,073,230.63. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 35,479 shares of company stock worth $3,761,201 over the last quarter. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kirby

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. 1832 Asset Management L.P. boosted its stake in Kirby by 56.1% during the first quarter. 1832 Asset Management L.P. now owns 398 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $38,000 after buying an additional 143 shares during the last quarter. Lazard Asset Management LLC bought a new position in Kirby during the first quarter valued at approximately $45,000. Turtle Creek Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kirby during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $53,000. Fifth Third Bancorp boosted its stake in Kirby by 28.1% during the first quarter. Fifth Third Bancorp now owns 551 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $53,000 after buying an additional 121 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Quest Partners LLC bought a new position in Kirby during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $58,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

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.