Kirby (NYSE:KEX) Given Buy Rating at BTIG Research

Key Points

• BTIG Research has reiterated a "buy" rating for Kirby (KEX), with a price target of $125.00, indicating a potential upside of 51.21% from the stock's previous close.
• Kirby's consensus rating is categorized as "Moderate Buy" with an average price target of $122.33, despite some analysts setting target prices below this level.
• In its most recent quarterly earnings, Kirby reported earnings per share of $1.67, surpassing estimates and showing a 3.8% increase in revenue compared to the previous year.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX - Get Free Report)'s stock had its "buy" rating restated by research analysts at BTIG Research in a research note issued to investors on Thursday,Benzinga reports. They currently have a $125.00 price objective on the shipping company's stock. BTIG Research's target price indicates a potential upside of 48.84% from the stock's previous close.

A number of other analysts have also commented on KEX. Bank of America dropped their price target on Kirby from $110.00 to $107.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday, September 3rd. Zacks Research raised Kirby from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 3rd. Three investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and one has assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $122.33.

Kirby Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE KEX traded down $0.06 during trading on Thursday, hitting $83.98. 1,640,254 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 1,038,388. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $100.02 and a two-hundred day moving average of $103.14. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.33, a current ratio of 1.74 and a quick ratio of 1.12. Kirby has a 12-month low of $82.55 and a 12-month high of $132.21. The firm has a market cap of $4.69 billion, a P/E ratio of 15.88, a PEG ratio of 0.86 and a beta of 1.09.

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

Institutional Trading of Kirby

Several large investors have recently made changes to their positions in KEX. Ethic Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kirby by 3.1% during the second quarter. Ethic Inc. now owns 3,236 shares of the shipping company's stock worth $372,000 after buying an additional 98 shares during the period. Brooklyn Investment Group boosted its position in Kirby by 40.7% in the 1st quarter. Brooklyn Investment Group now owns 394 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $40,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. Bell Investment Advisors Inc boosted its position in Kirby by 67.1% in the 2nd quarter. Bell Investment Advisors Inc now owns 284 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $32,000 after buying an additional 114 shares during the period. Brown Advisory Inc. boosted its holdings in Kirby by 0.3% in the first quarter. Brown Advisory Inc. now owns 36,597 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $3,697,000 after purchasing an additional 117 shares during the period. Finally, Parallel Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Kirby by 49.4% in the second quarter. Parallel Advisors LLC now owns 366 shares of the shipping company's stock valued at $42,000 after purchasing an additional 121 shares during the period. 96.15% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.