Kirby (NYSE:KEX) Cut to Hold at StockNews.com

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

Separately, Bank of America upped their price target on shares of Kirby from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kirby presently has a consensus rating of Moderate Buy and a consensus price target of $123.80.

Kirby Stock Performance

Shares of KEX stock opened at $124.76 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.05. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $118.43 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $112.86. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.30 billion, a P/E ratio of 29.49, a P/E/G ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.17. Kirby has a 12 month low of $72.11 and a 12 month high of $130.90.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The shipping company reported $1.43 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.32 by $0.11. Kirby had a return on equity of 8.70% and a net margin of 8.72%. The firm had revenue of $824.40 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $821.65 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.95 earnings per share. Kirby’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts anticipate that Kirby will post 5.46 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 26,358 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction dated Monday, September 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $120.46, for a total value of $3,175,084.68. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief executive officer now directly owns 63,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $7,637,043.54. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. In other Kirby news, CEO David W. Grzebinski sold 26,358 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, September 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $120.46, for a total value of $3,175,084.68. Following the sale, the chief executive officer now directly owns 63,399 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $7,637,043.54. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, COO Christian G. O’neil sold 2,770 shares of the 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 completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now directly owns 16,079 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,772,066.59. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 46,012 shares of company stock worth $5,571,267 over the last ninety days. 1.50% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kirby

Large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund purchased a new position in Kirby during the second quarter valued at approximately $108,000. Sanctuary Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kirby during the 2nd quarter worth $970,000. Clearbridge Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kirby in the second quarter worth about $239,000. Truist Financial Corp bought a new stake in shares of Kirby during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,050,000. Finally, Point72 Asset Management L.P. acquired a new position in Kirby in the 2nd quarter valued at $11,186,000. 96.15% of the stock is owned by 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.