Kirby (NYSE:KEX) COO Christian O’neil Sells 11,145 Shares

Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX) COO Christian O’neil sold 11,145 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $111.68, for a total value of $1,244,673.60. Following the sale, the chief operating officer owned 14,835 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,656,772.80. The trade was a 42.90% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website.

Kirby Stock Performance

Shares of KEX stock opened at $110.84 on Friday. The company has a current ratio of 1.70, a quick ratio of 1.08 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.31. The company has a market cap of $6.01 billion, a PE ratio of 20.56, a P/E/G ratio of 1.08 and a beta of 0.88. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $106.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $102.33. Kirby Corporation has a 52 week low of $79.51 and a 52 week high of $122.50.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 29th. The shipping company reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.60 by $0.05. Kirby had a return on equity of 10.05% and a net margin of 9.22%.The company had revenue of $871.16 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $843.29 million. During the same period last year, the company posted $1.55 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Kirby Corporation will post 6.57 EPS for the current year.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KEX. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Kirby by 2.4% in the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,667,853 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $472,982,000 after purchasing an additional 134,261 shares during the period. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its position in shares of Kirby by 72.5% in the 2nd quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,282,865 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $258,900,000 after buying an additional 959,209 shares during the last quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. lifted its position in shares of Kirby by 10.8% in the 2nd quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 2,165,929 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $245,638,000 after buying an additional 211,231 shares during the last quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp boosted its holdings in shares of Kirby by 8.5% in the 3rd quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 1,570,001 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $131,017,000 after buying an additional 122,733 shares during the period. Finally, Encompass Capital Advisors LLC grew its position in shares of Kirby by 32.4% during the 2nd quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 1,225,338 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $138,966,000 after buying an additional 299,981 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have recently commented on KEX. Evercore ISI boosted their target price on shares of Kirby from $109.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Bank of America cut their price objective on shares of Kirby from $110.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Wall Street Zen upgraded Kirby from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Saturday, November 1st. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Kirby in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Kirby in a report on Thursday, September 18th. Five analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $124.00.

Kirby Company Profile

Kirby Corporation is a leading domestic maritime transporter of bulk liquid products in the United States. Through its Marine Transportation segment, the company operates one of North America’s largest fleets of inland tank barges and towing vessels. Kirby’s fleet moves petrochemicals, black oil, refined petroleum products and agricultural chemicals along coastal and inland waterways, providing critical logistical support to energy, chemical and agricultural producers.

In addition to its marine operations, Kirby’s Distribution and Services segment offers diesel engine and power generation services, along with aftermarket parts sales.