Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) VP William Matthew Woodruff Sells 3,750 Shares

Kirby Co. (NYSE:KEX) VP William Matthew Woodruff sold 3,750 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, May 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $109.25, for a total transaction of $409,687.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 941 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $102,804.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link.

Kirby Price Performance

Shares of KEX traded up $1.69 during midday trading on Thursday, hitting $109.86. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 138,462 shares, compared to its average volume of 419,539. Kirby Co. has a one year low of $69.22 and a one year high of $114.35. The company’s fifty day simple moving average is $94.67 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $84.36. The company has a quick ratio of 1.01, a current ratio of 1.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $6.43 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 25.97, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 1.75 and a beta of 1.14.

Kirby (NYSE:KEX) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Friday, April 26th. The shipping company reported $1.19 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.97 by $0.22. Kirby had a return on equity of 8.00% and a net margin of 8.01%. The company had revenue of $808.00 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $784.49 million. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.68 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 7.7% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities analysts expect that Kirby Co. will post 5.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kirby

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the company. BNP Paribas bought a new stake in Kirby during the 1st quarter worth $1,093,000. Pullen Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in Kirby during the 1st quarter worth $2,252,000. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC grew its position in Kirby by 1.2% during the 1st quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 10,369 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $988,000 after acquiring an additional 122 shares during the last quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama grew its position in Kirby by 0.3% during the 1st quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 74,214 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $7,074,000 after acquiring an additional 195 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Kirby by 2.5% during the 1st quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 222,523 shares of the shipping company’s stock worth $21,211,000 after acquiring an additional 5,526 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 96.15% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research analysts recently weighed in on the stock. Stephens reaffirmed an “overweight” rating and issued a $105.00 target price on shares of Kirby in a research report on Monday, February 5th. StockNews.com upgraded shares of Kirby from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 16th. BTIG Research raised their target price on shares of Kirby from $100.00 to $115.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, April 3rd. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Kirby from $100.00 to $118.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Friday, April 19th. Finally, Wolfe Research assumed coverage on shares of Kirby in a research note on Monday, April 22nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $126.00 target price for the company. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a buy rating, According to data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $116.00.

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.