Bank of America Raises Kirby (NYSE:KEX) Price Target to $138.00

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) had its price target lifted by Bank of America from $131.00 to $138.00 in a research note published on Monday, Benzinga reports. Bank of America currently has a buy rating on the shipping company’s stock.

Other equities analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Kirby from $131.00 to $132.00 and gave the company a buy rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 21st. BTIG Research raised their price objective on shares of Kirby from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a buy rating in a report on Wednesday, April 3rd. Wolfe Research began coverage on shares of Kirby in a research report on Monday, April 22nd. They set an outperform rating and a $126.00 price target on the stock. Finally, StockNews.com raised Kirby from a hold rating to a buy rating in a report on Tuesday, April 16th. Six analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of Buy and a consensus target price of $123.20.

Kirby Trading Down 0.1 %

NYSE KEX opened at $118.59 on Monday. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $113.27 and its 200-day simple moving average is $94.24. The stock has a market cap of $6.94 billion, a P/E ratio of 28.04, a PEG ratio of 0.79 and a beta of 1.17. Kirby has a 52 week low of $72.11 and a 52 week high of $124.92. The company has a current ratio of 1.81, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Friday, April 26th. The shipping company reported $1.19 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.97 by $0.22. Kirby had a net margin of 8.01% and a return on equity of 7.96%. The company had revenue of $808.00 million during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $784.49 million. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% on a year-over-year basis. Equities research analysts predict that Kirby will post 5.3 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kirby news, Director William M. Waterman sold 10,000 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $114.51, for a total value of $1,145,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 77,316 shares in the company, valued at $8,853,455.16. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In other Kirby news, CFO Raj Kumar sold 2,228 shares of the stock in a transaction on Friday, March 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $92.00, for a total value of $204,976.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer now directly owns 1,719 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $158,148. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director William M. Waterman sold 10,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $114.51, for a total transaction of $1,145,100.00. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 77,316 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $8,853,455.16. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 43,162 shares of company stock worth $4,752,143 over the last quarter. 1.40% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Park West Asset Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kirby during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $61,824,000. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Kirby during the 4th quarter worth about $51,781,000. FMR LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kirby by 30.9% during the 3rd 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. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kirby during the 1st quarter valued at about $22,877,000. Finally, Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. grew its stake in Kirby by 21.4% in the 1st quarter. Vaughan Nelson Investment Management L.P. now owns 896,257 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $85,432,000 after buying an additional 157,880 shares during the last quarter. 96.15% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

About Kirby

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.