Insider Selling: Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) COO Sells $305,281.70 in Stock

Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) COO Christian G. O’neil sold 2,770 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $110.21, for a total transaction of $305,281.70. Following the transaction, the chief operating officer now directly owns 16,079 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,772,066.59. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Kirby Trading Up 3.4 %

KEX stock opened at $115.24 on Friday. The business has a fifty day moving average price of $119.63 and a 200 day moving average price of $104.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.81 and a quick ratio of 1.12. Kirby Co. has a fifty-two week low of $72.11 and a fifty-two week high of $130.90. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 27.24, a P/E/G ratio of 0.70 and a beta of 1.18.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The shipping company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.11. Kirby had a return on equity of 8.75% and a net margin of 8.72%. The company had revenue of $824.40 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $821.65 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned $0.95 earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts expect that Kirby Co. will post 5.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kirby

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kirby by 70.7% during the second quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 74,875 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $8,965,000 after purchasing an additional 31,011 shares during the last quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. lifted its holdings in Kirby by 882.8% during the 2nd quarter. Oppenheimer Asset Management Inc. now owns 68,502 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $8,202,000 after buying an additional 61,532 shares in the last quarter. DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale bought a new position in Kirby in the 2nd quarter valued at $175,000. Meeder Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kirby by 78.4% in the 2nd quarter. Meeder Asset Management Inc. now owns 23,776 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $2,847,000 after buying an additional 10,449 shares during the period. Finally, Nicholas Investment Partners LP bought a new stake in shares of Kirby during the second quarter worth $5,270,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KEX has been the subject of several recent research reports. Bank of America increased their price target on shares of Kirby from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com upgraded Kirby from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 16th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Kirby from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 21st. Finally, Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Kirby in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $126.00 target price on the stock. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Buy” and an average price target of $123.80.

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.