Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) Receives $85.50 Consensus PT from Brokerages

Shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX – Get Rating) have earned a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the six ratings firms that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat reports. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold recommendation and four have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 12 month price objective among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $85.50.

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the company. TheStreet upgraded Kirby from a “c+” rating to a “b-” rating in a report on Monday. BTIG Research upped their price objective on Kirby from $80.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, March 6th. Bank of America upped their price objective on Kirby from $77.00 to $82.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, February 7th. Stephens upped their price objective on Kirby from $85.00 to $90.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 1st. Finally, StockNews.com initiated coverage on Kirby in a research report on Thursday. They set a “hold” rating for the company.

Insider Activity at Kirby

In related news, VP Ronald A. Dragg sold 1,500 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.82, for a total transaction of $109,230.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 12,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $884,326.08. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. In other news, VP Ronald A. Dragg sold 1,500 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $72.82, for a total value of $109,230.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 12,144 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $884,326.08. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Amy D. Husted sold 7,406 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $72.89, for a total value of $539,823.34. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 14,072 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,025,708.08. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 20,316 shares of company stock valued at $1,483,079. Insiders own 1.80% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kirby

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kirby by 1.0% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,616,009 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $341,285,000 after purchasing an additional 54,667 shares during the period. Morgan Stanley increased its stake in shares of Kirby by 923.2% in the 4th quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,248,727 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $273,406,000 after purchasing an additional 3,833,471 shares during the last quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC increased its stake in shares of Kirby by 51.9% in the 3rd quarter. Neuberger Berman Group LLC now owns 3,407,011 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $207,043,000 after purchasing an additional 1,163,601 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP increased its stake in shares of Kirby by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,288,284 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $147,250,000 after purchasing an additional 62,063 shares during the last quarter. Finally, King Luther Capital Management Corp increased its stake in shares of Kirby by 4.5% in the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 2,026,669 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $123,161,000 after purchasing an additional 88,143 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 94.94% of the company’s stock.

Kirby Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE KEX opened at $67.84 on Tuesday. Kirby has a 12 month low of $55.03 and a 12 month high of $76.34. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $69.51 and a 200 day simple moving average of $67.38. The company has a market capitalization of $4.07 billion, a PE ratio of 33.42, a P/E/G ratio of 1.62 and a beta of 1.26. The company has a current ratio of 1.89, a quick ratio of 1.17 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.35.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX – Get Rating) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, January 31st. The shipping company reported $0.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.64 by $0.03. Kirby had a return on equity of 4.27% and a net margin of 4.39%. The company had revenue of $730.17 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $714.06 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.27 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 23.5% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts forecast that Kirby will post 3.54 EPS for the current year.

Kirby Company Profile

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Kirby Corp. is a tank barge operator, which engages in transporting bulk liquid products. It transports petrochemicals, black oil, refined petroleum products, and agricultural chemicals. It operates through Marine Transportation and Distribution and Services segments. The Marine Transportation segment provides marine transportation by United States flagged vessels principally of liquid cargoes throughout the United States inland waterway system.