Christian O’neil Sells 11,287 Shares of Kirby (NYSE:KEX) Stock

Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX) COO Christian O’neil sold 11,287 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Friday, May 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.93, for a total transaction of $1,647,111.91. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website.

Kirby Stock Performance

Shares of Kirby stock opened at $146.72 on Wednesday. The stock has a market cap of $7.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.57, a PEG ratio of 1.51 and a beta of 0.85. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $139.27 and its 200 day moving average is $125.28. Kirby Corporation has a 1 year low of $79.51 and a 1 year high of $157.69. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.59 and a quick ratio of 1.01.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The shipping company reported $1.50 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.09. The company had revenue of $844.10 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $832.57 million. Kirby had a net margin of 10.51% and a return on equity of 10.62%. Kirby’s revenue was up 7.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $1.33 EPS. Kirby has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.650-7.280 EPS. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Kirby Corporation will post 6.99 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kirby

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Oak Thistle LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kirby during the 4th quarter valued at about $1,422,000. Intech Investment Management LLC increased its position in shares of Kirby by 239.4% during the 3rd quarter. Intech Investment Management LLC now owns 15,762 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $1,315,000 after purchasing an additional 11,118 shares during the last quarter. Citigroup Inc. increased its position in shares of Kirby by 60.1% during the 3rd quarter. Citigroup Inc. now owns 44,665 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,727,000 after purchasing an additional 16,772 shares during the last quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC increased its position in shares of Kirby by 9.1% during the 3rd quarter. ArrowMark Colorado Holdings LLC now owns 807,204 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $67,361,000 after purchasing an additional 67,117 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Hound Partners LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kirby during the 3rd quarter valued at about $11,085,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on KEX shares. BTIG Research upped their price target on shares of Kirby from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Zacks Research upgraded shares of Kirby from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Friday, March 13th. Evercore restated an “outperform” rating and set a $158.00 target price on shares of Kirby in a research note on Friday, May 1st. Weiss Ratings cut shares of Kirby from a “buy (b-)” rating to a “hold (c+)” rating in a research note on Friday. Finally, Wolfe Research restated an “outperform” rating and set a $136.00 target price on shares of Kirby in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Five investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $146.20.

About Kirby

Kirby Corporation is a leading domestic maritime transporter of bulk liquid products in the United States. Through its Marine Transportation segment, the company operates one of North America’s largest fleets of inland tank barges and towing vessels. Kirby’s fleet moves petrochemicals, black oil, refined petroleum products and agricultural chemicals along coastal and inland waterways, providing critical logistical support to energy, chemical and agricultural producers.

In addition to its marine operations, Kirby’s Distribution and Services segment offers diesel engine and power generation services, along with aftermarket parts sales.