Kirby (NYSE:KEX) Downgraded to “Hold” at StockNews.com

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

A number of other equities research analysts also recently weighed in on KEX. Stephens reissued an overweight rating and issued a $105.00 price target on shares of Kirby in a report on Monday, February 5th. BTIG Research lifted their price target on shares of Kirby from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a research report on Wednesday, April 3rd.

Kirby Stock Up 0.7 %

KEX stock opened at $99.56 on Monday. Kirby has a 52 week low of $66.42 and a 52 week high of $99.96. The company has a current ratio of 1.68, a quick ratio of 1.01 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The company has a market capitalization of $5.83 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 26.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.67 and a beta of 1.21. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $88.66 and its two-hundred day moving average is $82.05.

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

Insider Buying and Selling at Kirby

In other news, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 18,000 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total value of $1,537,920.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 66,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,673,130.56. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In related news, insider Dorman Lynn Strahan sold 3,423 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 27th. The stock was sold at an average price of $95.11, for a total transaction of $325,561.53. Following the transaction, the insider now directly owns 21,054 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $2,002,445.94. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $85.44, for a total value of $1,537,920.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 66,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,673,130.56. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 55,931 shares of company stock valued at $4,883,929. 1.50% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kirby

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Kirby by 1.4% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 6,097,723 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $478,549,000 after buying an additional 81,808 shares during the period. BlackRock Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kirby by 0.3% in the first quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 5,313,776 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $370,370,000 after acquiring an additional 14,447 shares during the last quarter. Morgan Stanley raised its holdings in shares of Kirby by 923.2% during the fourth quarter. Morgan Stanley now owns 4,248,727 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $273,406,000 after acquiring an additional 3,833,471 shares in the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its position in Kirby by 2.4% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,624,271 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $205,954,000 after purchasing an additional 62,378 shares during the last quarter. Finally, FMR LLC grew its stake in Kirby by 30.9% in the third quarter. FMR LLC now owns 2,100,068 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $173,886,000 after purchasing an additional 495,541 shares in the last quarter. 96.15% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.