Kirby's (NYSE:KEX) Stock Price Has Reduced39% In The Past Year
Passive investing in an index fund is a good way to ensure your own returns roughly match the overall market. When you buy individual stocks, you can make higher profits, but you also face the risk of under-performance. Investors in Kirby Corporation (NYSE:KEX) have tasted that bitter downside in the last year, as the share price dropped 39%. That's well below the market return of 18%. At least the damage isn't so bad if you look at the last three years, since the stock is down 26% in that time. Unfortunately the share price momentum is still quite negative, with prices down 10% in thirty days. This could be related to the recent financial results - you can catch up on the most recent data by reading our company report.
Check out our latest analysis for Kirby
While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement.
During the last year Kirby saw its earnings per share drop below zero. Some investors no doubt dumped the stock as a result. Of course, if the company can turn the situation around, investors will likely profit.
The graphic below depicts how EPS has changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).
This free interactive report on Kirby's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.
A Different Perspective
While the broader market gained around 18% in the last year, Kirby shareholders lost 39%. Even the share prices of good stocks drop sometimes, but we want to see improvements in the fundamental metrics of a business, before getting too interested. Regrettably, last year's performance caps off a bad run, with the shareholders facing a total loss of 6.3% per year over five years. Generally speaking long term share price weakness can be a bad sign, though contrarian investors might want to research the stock in hope of a turnaround. It's always interesting to track share price performance over the longer term. But to understand Kirby better, we need to consider many other factors. For example, we've discovered 3 warning signs for Kirby (1 is concerning!) that you should be aware of before investing here.
We will like Kirby better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.
Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on US exchanges.
This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. We aim to bring you long-term focused analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material. Simply Wall St has no position in any stocks mentioned.
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