Kirby (NYSE:KEX) Releases Earnings Results

Kirby (NYSE:KEX - Get Free Report) issued its quarterly earnings results on Thursday. The shipping company reported $1.29 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $1.30 by ($0.01), Zacks reports. Kirby had a net margin of 8.78% and a return on equity of 9.78%.

Kirby Trading Down 1.9 %

NYSE KEX traded down $2.02 on Monday, hitting $107.13. 681,760 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 771,388. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.29, a current ratio of 1.67 and a quick ratio of 1.05. Kirby has a twelve month low of $81.87 and a twelve month high of $132.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $6.15 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.82, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 0.55 and a beta of 1.19. The company's 50 day moving average price is $111.96 and its 200-day moving average price is $117.71.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kirby news, COO Christian G. O'neil sold 15,041 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 12th. The shares were sold at an average price of $130.00, for a total transaction of $1,955,330.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief operating officer now owns 7,746 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,006,980. This trade represents a 66.01 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP Ronald A. Dragg sold 2,313 shares of Kirby stock in a transaction on Thursday, November 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $127.30, for a total value of $294,444.90. Following the sale, the vice president now directly owns 7,683 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $978,045.90. The trade was a 23.14 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 25,354 shares of company stock worth $3,275,455 over the last ninety days. 1.40% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages recently weighed in on KEX. StockNews.com cut Kirby from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 9th. Stifel Nicolaus dropped their target price on shares of Kirby from $136.00 to $135.00 and set a "buy" rating on the stock in a report on Friday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating and five have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $124.40.

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.