Kirby (NYSE:KEX) versus Imperial Petroleum (NASDAQ:IMPP) Head-To-Head Analysis

Imperial Petroleum (NASDAQ:IMPP) and Kirby (NYSE:KEX) are both transportation companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two businesses based on the strength of their earnings, risk, valuation, profitability, dividends, analyst recommendations and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of recent recommendations and price targets for Imperial Petroleum and Kirby, as provided by MarketBeat.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Imperial Petroleum	0	1	1	0	2.50
Kirby	0	1	6	0	2.86

Imperial Petroleum presently has a consensus price target of $9.00, suggesting a potential upside of 71.10%. Kirby has a consensus price target of $146.20, suggesting a potential upside of 2.90%. Given Imperial Petroleum’s higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Imperial Petroleum is more favorable than Kirby.

Risk & Volatility

Imperial Petroleum has a beta of 1.24, suggesting that its stock price is 24% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kirby has a beta of 0.82, suggesting that its stock price is 18% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Imperial Petroleum and Kirby’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Imperial Petroleum	34.99%	13.84%	12.44%
Kirby	10.51%	10.62%	5.93%

Valuation and Earnings

This table compares Imperial Petroleum and Kirby”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Imperial Petroleum	$161.00 million	1.18	$49.98 million	$1.56	3.37
Kirby	$3.36 billion	2.26	$354.57 million	$6.50	21.86

Kirby has higher revenue and earnings than Imperial Petroleum. Imperial Petroleum is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Kirby, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Insider & Institutional Ownership

94.4% of Imperial Petroleum shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.2% of Kirby shares are owned by institutional investors. 1.5% of Imperial Petroleum shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 0.8% of Kirby shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that hedge funds, large money managers and endowments believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Summary

Kirby beats Imperial Petroleum on 8 of the 14 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Imperial Petroleum

Imperial Petroleum Inc. provides international seaborne transportation services to oil producers, refineries, and commodities traders. It carries refined petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, and jet fuel, as well as edible oils and chemicals, crude oils, iron ore, coal and grains, and minor bulks, such as bauxite, phosphate, and fertilizers. As of April 1, 2024, the company owned and operated a fleet of six medium range refined petroleum product tankers; one Aframax tanker; two suezmax tankers; and two handysize drybulk carriers with a total capacity of 791,000 deadweight tons. The company was incorporated in 2021 and is based in Athens, Greece.

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. It also transports petrochemicals, black oils, refined petroleum products, and agricultural chemicals by tank barges; and operates offshore dry-bulk barges and tugboat units that are engaged in the offshore transportation of dry-bulk cargos in the United States coastal trade. It owns and operates 1,076 inland tank barges, approximately 281 inland towboats, 28 coastal tank barges, 25 coastal tugboats, 4 offshore dry-bulk cargo barges, 4 offshore tugboats, and a docking tugboat. Its Distribution and Services segment sells after-market service and genuine replacement parts for engines, transmissions, reduction gears, electric motors, drives, and controls, electrical distribution and control systems, energy storage battery systems, and related oilfield service equipment; rebuilds component parts or diesel engines, transmissions and reduction gears, and related equipment used in oilfield services, marine, power generation, on-highway, and other industrial applications; rents generators, industrial compressors, high capacity lift trucks, and refrigeration trailers; and manufactures and remanufactures oilfield service equipment, including pressure pumping units, as well as manufacturers electric power generation equipment, specialized electrical distribution and control equipment, and high capacity energy storage/battery systems. It serves to various companies, the United States government, and pleasure crafts. The company was formerly known as Kirby Exploration Company, Inc. and changed its name to Kirby Corporation in 1990. Kirby Corporation was founded in 1921 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.