Kirby (NYSE:KEX) Stock Rating Raised to “Buy” at Wall Street Zen

Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Kirby (NYSE:KEX) from a hold rating to a buy rating in a research note released on Saturday morning,Wall Street Zen reports.

A number of other equities research analysts have also recently weighed in on KEX. Citigroup dropped their price target on shares of Kirby from $170.00 to $169.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, October 8th. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price target on shares of Kirby in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Weiss Ratings raised Kirby from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research note on Monday, September 14th. Stephens boosted their price objective on Kirby from $170.00 to $175.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 29th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Kirby from $200.00 to $210.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 29th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $171.43.

Kirby Stock Up 1.2%

KEX stock opened at $120.88 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $6.38 billion, a PE ratio of 17.42, a PEG ratio of 1.06 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.68. The firm’s 50 day moving average price is $136.45 and its 200-day moving average price is $136.72. Kirby has a one year low of $105.10 and a one year high of $157.69.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 28th. The shipping company reported $2.09 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $2.00 by $0.09. Kirby had a return on equity of 10.94% and a net margin of 10.39%. The company had revenue of $977.21 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $938.84 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted $1.65 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 12.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Kirby will post 7.26 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kirby news, CEO David Grzebinski sold 18,310 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, November 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $141.32, for a total transaction of $2,587,569.20. Following the sale, the chief executive officer owned 79,931 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,295,848.92. This represents a 18.64% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Company insiders own 0.80% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kirby

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KEX. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new stake in Kirby during the 2nd quarter worth about $733,274,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Kirby by 5.4% in the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,617,538 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $347,829,000 after purchasing an additional 133,030 shares in the last quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. lifted its holdings in Kirby by 8.2% in the 3rd quarter. Congress Asset Management Co. now owns 761,099 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $99,894,000 after purchasing an additional 57,371 shares in the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kirby by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 758,029 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $100,727,000 after purchasing an additional 24,147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barrow Hanley Mewhinney & Strauss LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kirby during the 2nd quarter worth about $69,359,000. 96.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kirby Company Profile

Kirby Corporation is a Houston-based marine transportation and industrial services company. Through its marine transportation operations, the company is the largest tank barge operator in the United States, transporting bulk liquid products on the nation’s inland and coastal waterways.

Kirby’s marine transportation business carries petrochemicals, refined petroleum products, black oil, agricultural chemicals and other bulk liquids for industrial customers. Its operations primarily serve the U.S.