Amy D. Husted Sells 2,853 Shares of Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) Stock

Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) VP Amy D. Husted sold 2,853 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, September 19th. The stock was sold at an average price of $126.54, for a total transaction of $361,018.62. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 5,280 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $668,131.20. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website.

Kirby Stock Down 2.0 %

Shares of NYSE:KEX opened at $124.50 on Friday. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $118.51 and its two-hundred day moving average is $112.18. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32, a current ratio of 1.70 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Kirby Co. has a 1 year low of $72.11 and a 1 year high of $130.90. The firm has a market capitalization of $7.29 billion, a PE ratio of 29.43, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.71 and a beta of 1.17.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, August 1st. The shipping company reported $1.43 earnings per share for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $1.32 by $0.11. Kirby had a net margin of 8.72% and a return on equity of 8.70%. The firm had revenue of $824.40 million for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $821.65 million. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.95 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 6.1% on a year-over-year basis. Analysts predict that Kirby Co. will post 5.46 EPS for the current year.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages have recently commented on KEX. Bank of America upped their price objective on shares of Kirby from $138.00 to $141.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 23rd. StockNews.com cut Kirby from a “buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $123.80.

Institutional Trading of Kirby

Hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Park West Asset Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kirby in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $61,824,000. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Kirby during the fourth quarter worth $51,781,000. Select Equity Group L.P. purchased a new position in Kirby in the second quarter valued at $65,928,000. Lord Abbett & CO. LLC acquired a new stake in Kirby in the first quarter valued at $22,877,000. Finally, Encompass Capital Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in Kirby by 33.9% during the 2nd quarter. Encompass Capital Advisors LLC now owns 887,384 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $106,246,000 after buying an additional 224,802 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.