Raj Kumar Sells 3,000 Shares of Kirby (NYSE:KEX) Stock

Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX) CFO Raj Kumar sold 3,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, March 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $132.70, for a total transaction of $398,100.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 4,494 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $596,353.80. This trade represents a 40.03% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link.

Kirby Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KEX opened at $130.30 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.99 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.58, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.20 and a beta of 0.83. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.27, a current ratio of 1.53 and a quick ratio of 0.96. The business’s 50 day simple moving average is $124.01 and its 200-day simple moving average is $106.78. Kirby Corporation has a 12 month low of $79.51 and a 12 month high of $134.69.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last released its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, January 29th. The shipping company reported $1.68 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $1.62 by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $851.78 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $857.82 million. Kirby had a return on equity of 10.53% and a net margin of 10.54%.Kirby’s quarterly revenue was up 6.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the business posted $1.29 EPS. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Kirby Corporation will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Trading of Kirby

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Virtu Financial LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kirby during the 4th quarter worth $220,000. Corient Private Wealth LLC grew its position in shares of Kirby by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. Corient Private Wealth LLC now owns 31,623 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,484,000 after purchasing an additional 700 shares during the period. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury grew its position in shares of Kirby by 62.6% in the fourth quarter. State of Tennessee Department of Treasury now owns 25,638 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,017,000 after purchasing an additional 9,868 shares during the period. Mackenzie Financial Corp increased its stake in Kirby by 136.9% in the fourth quarter. Mackenzie Financial Corp now owns 27,591 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $3,056,000 after purchasing an additional 15,945 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Wellington Management Group LLP lifted its position in Kirby by 10.2% during the fourth quarter. Wellington Management Group LLP now owns 1,932,146 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $212,884,000 after buying an additional 178,422 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KEX has been the topic of a number of research reports. Wolfe Research reissued an “outperform” rating and issued a $136.00 price objective on shares of Kirby in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Zacks Research cut shares of Kirby from a “hold” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, February 12th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Kirby from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a research report on Wednesday, February 18th. Citigroup upped their target price on Kirby from $145.00 to $147.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, BTIG Research dropped their price target on Kirby from $140.00 to $135.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a research report on Thursday, January 29th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $129.40.

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.