Kirby (KEX) Competitors

Matson (NYSE:MATX) and Kirby (NYSE:KEX) are both mid-cap transportation companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their community ranking, profitability, analyst recommendations, media sentiment, earnings, institutional ownership, dividends, valuation and risk.

Do analysts prefer MATX or KEX?

Matson presently has a consensus price target of $135.50, suggesting a potential downside of 15.66%. Kirby has a consensus price target of $123.80, suggesting a potential downside of 3.31%. Given Kirby's stronger consensus rating and higher probable upside, analysts plainly believe Kirby is more favorable than Matson.

Company	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Matson	0 Sell rating(s)	1 Hold rating(s)	1 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	2.50
Kirby	0 Sell rating(s)	0 Hold rating(s)	5 Buy rating(s)	0 Strong Buy rating(s)	3.00

Which has more volatility & risk, MATX or KEX?

Matson has a beta of 1.06, suggesting that its share price is 6% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kirby has a beta of 1.17, suggesting that its share price is 17% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Do insiders and institutionals have more ownership in MATX or KEX?

84.8% of Matson shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 96.2% of Kirby shares are owned by institutional investors. 2.3% of Matson shares are owned by company insiders. Comparatively, 1.5% of Kirby shares are owned by company insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that endowments, large money managers and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Does the MarketBeat Community favor MATX or KEX?

Kirby received 263 more outperform votes than Matson when rated by MarketBeat users. However, 62.24% of users gave Matson an outperform vote while only 60.73% of users gave Kirby an outperform vote.

Company	Underperform	Outperform
Matson	Outperform Votes 272 62.24%	Underperform Votes 165 37.76%
Kirby	Outperform Votes 535 60.73%	Underperform Votes 346 39.27%

Is MATX or KEX more profitable?

Matson has a net margin of 12.37% compared to Kirby's net margin of 9.37%. Matson's return on equity of 16.89% beat Kirby's return on equity.

Company	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Matson	12.37%	16.89%	9.54%
Kirby	9.37%	9.43%	5.26%

Does the media refer more to MATX or KEX?

In the previous week, Kirby had 24 more articles in the media than Matson. MarketBeat recorded 31 mentions for Kirby and 7 mentions for Matson. Kirby's average media sentiment score of 0.93 beat Matson's score of 0.28 indicating that Kirby is being referred to more favorably in the news media.

Company	Very Positive	Positive	Neutral	Negative	Very Negative	Overall Sentiment
Matson	4 Very Positive mention(s)	0 Positive mention(s)	1 Neutral mention(s)	0 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Neutral
Kirby	20 Very Positive mention(s)	3 Positive mention(s)	3 Neutral mention(s)	1 Negative mention(s)	0 Very Negative mention(s)	Positive

Which has better earnings and valuation, MATX or KEX?

Matson has higher revenue and earnings than Kirby. Matson is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Kirby, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Company	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Matson	$3.09B	1.72	$297.10M	$12.02	13.37
Kirby	$3.09B	2.38	$222.93M	$5.21	24.58

Summary

Kirby beats Matson on 10 of the 18 factors compared between the two stocks.