Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX) Stock Has Average Target Price of $163.20

Shares of Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX) have received an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the seven research firms that are presently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and six have assigned a buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $163.20.

A number of analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America boosted their target price on Kirby from $169.00 to $182.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 8th. BTIG Research reissued a “buy” rating and set a $170.00 price target on shares of Kirby in a research note on Wednesday, July 29th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Kirby from $165.00 to $170.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, July 31st. Weiss Ratings upgraded shares of Kirby from a “hold (c+)” rating to a “buy (b-)” rating in a report on Monday, September 14th. Finally, Wall Street Zen cut shares of Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Saturday, August 8th.

Institutional Trading of Kirby

Several institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KEX. BlackRock Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kirby in the second quarter worth about $733,274,000. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Kirby by 5.4% during the 1st quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,617,538 shares of the shipping company’s stock valued at $347,829,000 after acquiring an additional 133,030 shares during the period. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. grew its position in Kirby by 92.0% during the 4th quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,612,119 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $287,803,000 after acquiring an additional 1,251,700 shares during the last quarter. Jennison Associates LLC grew its position in Kirby by 3.3% during the 1st quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 758,029 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $100,727,000 after acquiring an additional 24,147 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Norges Bank purchased a new position in Kirby in the 4th quarter worth approximately $81,355,000. 96.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kirby Stock Up 0.2%

KEX opened at $138.12 on Friday. The stock has a market cap of $7.29 billion, a PE ratio of 21.25, a P/E/G ratio of 1.23 and a beta of 0.84. The company has a quick ratio of 1.12, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.30. Kirby has a 52 week low of $79.51 and a 52 week high of $157.69. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $136.66 and its 200 day simple moving average is $139.63.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The shipping company reported $1.67 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $1.63 by $0.04. Kirby had a return on equity of 10.44% and a net margin of 10.18%.The business had revenue of $922.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $870.38 million. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $1.67 earnings per share. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.8% on a year-over-year basis. Kirby has set its FY 2026 guidance at 7.280-7.280 EPS. As a group, research analysts expect that Kirby will post 7.11 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kirby Company Profile

Kirby Corporation is a marine transportation and engine-services company headquartered in Houston, Texas. Founded in 1921, the company operates primarily in the United States and is one of the largest domestic operators of tank barges.

Through its marine transportation business, Kirby transports bulk liquid products on the nation’s inland waterway system and along the U.S. coast. Its cargoes include refined petroleum products, petrochemicals, black oil, agricultural chemicals and other specialty liquids.