Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX) has received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are currently covering the stock, MarketBeat Ratings reports. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation and five have assigned a buy recommendation to the company. The average 1-year price target among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $123.40.

KEX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Bank of America decreased their target price on Kirby from $110.00 to $107.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Zacks Research raised shares of Kirby from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Citigroup upgraded shares of Kirby from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their price objective for the company from $110.00 to $128.00 in a report on Wednesday, November 5th. Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Kirby in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, BTIG Research reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $125.00 target price on shares of Kirby in a research report on Thursday, September 18th.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kirby

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Alliancebernstein L.P. increased its stake in shares of Kirby by 72.5% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,282,865 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $258,900,000 after buying an additional 959,209 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new position in Kirby during the 2nd quarter worth about $78,256,000. Hood River Capital Management LLC purchased a new position in Kirby during the 2nd quarter valued at about $73,784,000. Select Equity Group L.P. raised its holdings in shares of Kirby by 24.8% in the 1st quarter. Select Equity Group L.P. now owns 1,954,698 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $197,444,000 after purchasing an additional 389,005 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Park West Asset Management LLC lifted its position in shares of Kirby by 69.3% in the 1st quarter. Park West Asset Management LLC now owns 776,000 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $78,384,000 after purchasing an additional 317,721 shares during the period. 96.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kirby Stock Up 0.3%

Shares of NYSE KEX opened at $108.02 on Tuesday. Kirby has a 1 year low of $79.51 and a 1 year high of $132.21. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $88.90 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $101.34. The company has a market cap of $6.03 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.04, a PEG ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.05. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.12.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, October 29th. The shipping company reported $1.65 EPS for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.60 by $0.05. Kirby had a return on equity of 10.06% and a net margin of 9.22%.The firm had revenue of $871.16 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $843.29 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm posted $1.55 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% on a year-over-year basis. Research analysts anticipate that Kirby will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current year.

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.