Kirby (NYSE:KEX) Earns Neutral Rating from Analysts at Citigroup

Key Points

• Citigroup has upgraded Kirby's stock rating to "hold," indicating a shift in analyst sentiment towards the company.
• In addition to Citigroup, Zacks Research also raised its rating from "strong sell" to "hold," while BTIG Research maintains a "buy" rating with a target price of $125.
• Kirby's recent quarterly earnings surpassed expectations, reporting $1.67 earnings per share, which is an increase from $1.43 EPS in the same period last year.

Analysts at Citigroup initiated coverage on shares of Kirby (NYSE:KEX - Get Free Report) in a research report issued on Monday, MarketBeat reports. The brokerage set a "neutral" rating and a $91.00 price target on the shipping company's stock. Citigroup's price objective would suggest a potential upside of 6.00% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other equities research analysts also recently issued reports on KEX. Bank of America cut their target price on shares of Kirby from $110.00 to $107.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. BTIG Research restated a "buy" rating and set a $125.00 price target on shares of Kirby in a research note on Thursday, September 18th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of Kirby from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Three equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and two have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $114.50.

Kirby Stock Up 2.1%

Shares of NYSE:KEX opened at $85.85 on Monday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a quick ratio of 1.12 and a current ratio of 1.74. The company has a market cap of $4.79 billion, a PE ratio of 16.23, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.09. Kirby has a 52 week low of $82.55 and a 52 week high of $132.21. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $99.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $103.10.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Thursday, July 31st. The shipping company reported $1.67 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $1.59 by $0.08. Kirby had a net margin of 9.25% and a return on equity of 10.02%. The company had revenue of $855.46 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $851.94 million. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $1.43 EPS. The company's revenue was up 3.8% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, research analysts expect that Kirby will post 6.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Institutional Trading of Kirby

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the business. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Kirby by 0.4% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 132,089 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $13,342,000 after acquiring an additional 470 shares during the last quarter. Blue Trust Inc. increased its stake in Kirby by 28.7% in the first quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 668 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $67,000 after purchasing an additional 149 shares in the last quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Kirby by 5.3% in the first quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 77,641 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $7,842,000 after purchasing an additional 3,924 shares in the last quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC increased its stake in Kirby by 53.4% in the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 672 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $68,000 after purchasing an additional 234 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC increased its stake in Kirby by 30.9% in the first quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 11,075 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $1,119,000 after purchasing an additional 2,616 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.15% of the company's stock.

Kirby Company Profile

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.