Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) Receives $123.80 Average PT from Brokerages

Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) has been assigned a consensus recommendation of “Buy” from the five analysts that are covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a buy recommendation. The average 1 year target price among brokers that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $124.40.

KEX has been the topic of several research reports. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their price objective on shares of Kirby from $136.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Friday. StockNews.com downgraded Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 9th.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kirby

In related news, Director Richard Ross Stewart sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $128.21, for a total transaction of $1,025,680.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 15,488 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,985,716.48. This trade represents a 34.06 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, COO Christian G. O’neil sold 15,041 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total value of $1,955,330.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 7,746 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,006,980. This represents a 66.01 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 25,354 shares of company stock worth $3,275,455. Corporate insiders own 1.50% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kirby

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KEX. Renaissance Technologies LLC bought a new stake in Kirby in the second quarter worth about $1,233,000. Canada Pension Plan Investment Board bought a new stake in shares of Kirby in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $72,000. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its holdings in Kirby by 115.5% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 189,924 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $22,740,000 after purchasing an additional 101,791 shares during the period. Millennium Management LLC increased its position in Kirby by 13.1% in the second quarter. Millennium Management LLC now owns 533,326 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $63,855,000 after buying an additional 61,573 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Creative Planning raised its stake in shares of Kirby by 16.8% in the second quarter. Creative Planning now owns 6,536 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $783,000 after buying an additional 940 shares during the period. 96.15% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kirby Stock Performance

KEX stock opened at $109.13 on Tuesday. The firm has a market cap of $6.26 billion, a PE ratio of 20.95, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.53 and a beta of 1.21. The company has a current ratio of 1.67, a quick ratio of 1.05 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $111.96 and a 200-day moving average price of $117.75. Kirby has a 1-year low of $78.63 and a 1-year high of $132.21.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, January 30th. The shipping company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $1.30 by ($0.01). Kirby had a net margin of 9.37% and a return on equity of 9.43%. As a group, equities research analysts expect that Kirby will post 5.45 earnings per share for the current year.

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.