Insider Selling: Kirby (NYSE:KEX) VP Sells 1,726 Shares of Stock

Key Points

• Kirby VP Ronald Dragg sold 1,726 shares on May 4 at an average price of $145.01 for roughly $250,287, cutting his ownership by 16.6% to 8,673 shares, according to an SEC filing.
• Kirby beat quarterly expectations with $1.50 EPS (vs. $1.41 est.) and $844.1M revenue, set FY2026 guidance of $6.65–$7.28 EPS, and carries a consensus "Moderate Buy" rating with an average price target of $146.20.
• Shares traded near $143.54 (market cap ~$7.7B) and the stock is heavily institutionally held (96.15%), with large funds like Vanguard and Goldman Sachs recently increasing their stakes.

Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX - Get Free Report) VP Ronald Dragg sold 1,726 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Monday, May 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $145.01, for a total value of $250,287.26. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 8,673 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,257,671.73. The trade was a 16.60% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website.

Kirby Stock Performance

Shares of Kirby stock traded up $0.17 during trading hours on Wednesday, reaching $143.54. The company had a trading volume of 171,824 shares, compared to its average volume of 761,336. Kirby Corporation has a one year low of $79.51 and a one year high of $157.69. The business has a fifty day simple moving average of $136.44 and a 200 day simple moving average of $121.28. 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 firm has a market cap of $7.70 billion, a PE ratio of 22.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.50 and a beta of 0.85.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Thursday, April 30th. The shipping company reported $1.50 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.41 by $0.09. The firm had revenue of $844.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $832.57 million. Kirby had a return on equity of 10.65% and a net margin of 10.51%.The business's revenue for the quarter was up 7.4% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the company earned $1.33 earnings per share. Kirby has set its FY 2026 guidance at 6.650-7.280 EPS. On average, analysts anticipate that Kirby Corporation will post 6.89 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kirby

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in Kirby by 2.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 5,667,853 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $472,982,000 after purchasing an additional 134,261 shares during the last quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. lifted its stake in Kirby by 92.0% during the fourth quarter. Goldman Sachs Group Inc. now owns 2,612,119 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $287,803,000 after purchasing an additional 1,251,700 shares during the last quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Kirby by 3.9% during the fourth quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 2,484,508 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $273,745,000 after purchasing an additional 93,676 shares during the last quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. lifted its stake in Kirby by 72.5% during the second quarter. Alliancebernstein L.P. now owns 2,282,865 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $258,900,000 after purchasing an additional 959,209 shares during the last quarter. Finally, First Trust Advisors LP lifted its stake in Kirby by 109.4% during the fourth quarter. First Trust Advisors LP now owns 2,256,667 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $248,640,000 after purchasing an additional 1,178,963 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.15% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KEX has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Kirby from $147.00 to $160.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 9th. BTIG Research lifted their price objective on Kirby from $160.00 to $170.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Thursday, April 30th. Weiss Ratings raised Kirby from a "hold (c+)" rating to a "buy (b-)" rating in a research note on Friday. Wolfe Research reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $136.00 price objective on shares of Kirby in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Evercore reissued an "outperform" rating and set a $158.00 price objective on shares of Kirby in a research note on Friday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kirby currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $146.20.

Kirby Company Profile

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.

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