Kirby (NYSE:KEX) Upgraded 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 published on Saturday morning.

Other analysts also recently issued reports about the company. BTIG Research restated a “buy” rating and issued a $125.00 price target on shares of Kirby in a research report on Thursday, September 18th. Citigroup lifted their target price on Kirby from $91.00 to $110.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday. Evercore ISI lifted their target price on Kirby from $109.00 to $122.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 30th. Zacks Research upgraded Kirby from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Finally, Weiss Ratings restated a “hold (c+)” rating on shares of Kirby in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Four equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and three have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $119.80.

Kirby Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of KEX opened at $104.23 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.12. The firm has a market cap of $5.82 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.05 and a beta of 1.00. Kirby has a 1 year low of $79.51 and a 1 year high of $132.21. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $88.02 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $100.95.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last posted 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. The firm had revenue of $871.16 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $843.29 million. Kirby had a return on equity of 10.06% and a net margin of 9.22%.The company’s quarterly revenue was up 4.8% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $1.55 EPS. On average, equities analysts expect that Kirby will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kirby

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KEX. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kirby by 244.8% during the second quarter. Thurston Springer Miller Herd & Titak Inc. now owns 231 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $26,000 after acquiring an additional 164 shares during the last quarter. Maseco LLP purchased a new stake in shares of Kirby during the second quarter worth about $28,000. IFP Advisors Inc purchased a new stake in shares of Kirby during the second quarter worth about $29,000. First Horizon Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Kirby during the third quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, KBC Group NV purchased a new stake in shares of Kirby during the first quarter worth about $32,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

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.