Kirby Corporation (KEX) Key Metrics

NYSE: KEXValuation, returns, debt and efficiency ratios over 10 years.

KEX valuation today

Trailing 12 months · as of October 18, 2026
Market cap
$7.20B
Enterprise value
$8.18B
P/E (TTM)
21.0
10-yr median 23.3
Forward P/E
15.6
PEG ratio
2.63
Price / sales
2.1
10-yr median 1.6
Price / book
2.0
10-yr median 1.4
EV / EBITDA
10.4
10-yr median 11.6
Dividend yield
—
Beta
0.84

KEX key metrics, 2016–2025

Fiscal year ended December 31, 2025 · U.S. dollars

KEX valuation Price multiples at each fiscal year-end price.

P/E ratio−19.1%
17.4
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
2016: 25.2 (+97.7%)2017: 11.8 (−53.1%)2018: 51.2 (+334.0%)2019: 37.7 (−26.5%)2022: 31.72023: 21.1 (−33.6%)2024: 21.5 (+2.2%)2025: 17.4 (−19.1%)
20162025
Price / sales−2.9%
1.8
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
2016: 2.0 (+49.6%)2017: 1.7 (−16.9%)2018: 1.4 (−19.0%)2019: 1.9 (+39.6%)2020: 1.4 (−24.3%)2021: 1.6 (+11.1%)2022: 1.4 (−12.2%)2023: 1.5 (+9.0%)2024: 1.9 (+24.4%)2025: 1.8 (−2.9%)
20162025
Price / book−0.8%
1.8
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
2016: 1.5 (+16.5%)2017: 1.2 (−19.4%)2018: 1.3 (+5.3%)2019: 1.6 (+27.2%)2020: 1.0 (−36.8%)2021: 1.2 (+22.8%)2022: 1.3 (+3.2%)2023: 1.5 (+15.6%)2024: 1.8 (+24.9%)2025: 1.8 (−0.8%)
20162025
EV / EBITDA−13.8%
9.5
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
2016: 9.6 (+50.1%)2017: 15.7 (+63.2%)2018: 14.0 (−10.5%)2019: 14.8 (+5.1%)2022: 12.32023: 10.0 (−18.9%)2024: 11.0 (+9.9%)2025: 9.5 (−13.8%)
20162025
Price / free cash flow+2.0%
15.2
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
2016: 19.3 (+17.4%)2017: 21.0 (+9.0%)2018: 89.1 (+324.3%)2019: 20.3 (−77.2%)2020: 10.5 (−48.6%)2021: 16.0 (+52.5%)2022: 31.9 (+100.1%)2023: 33.9 (+6.2%)2024: 14.9 (−56.0%)2025: 15.2 (+2.0%)
20162025
Free cash flow yield−0.1 pts
6.6%
2025 · hover or tap a bar for each year
2016: 5.2% (−0.9 pts)2017: 4.8% (−0.4 pts)2018: 1.1% (−3.6 pts)2019: 4.9% (+3.8 pts)2020: 9.6% (+4.6 pts)2021: 6.3% (−3.3 pts)2022: 3.1% (−3.1 pts)2023: 2.9% (−0.2 pts)2024: 6.7% (+3.8 pts)2025: 6.6% (−0.1 pts)
20162025

KEX valuation history

Fiscal year-endToday10-year median

KEX returns on capital

ROEROICROA

Net income (ROE, ROA) or after-tax operating income (ROIC) divided by the average of the opening and closing balance.

KEX debt vs cash

Total debtCash & short-term investments

Debt includes short- and long-term borrowings and, where reported, lease liabilities.

KEX cash returned to shareholders

DividendsBuybacksFree cash flow

KEX price vs earnings per share

Share price at year-endEPS (right axis)

KEX key metrics

2016–2025
Kirby Corporation key metrics by fiscal year
2025202420232022202120202019201820172016
Valuation
Market capitalization$6.18B$6.17B$4.70B$3.88B$3.57B$3.11B$5.36B$4.02B$3.70B$3.56B
Enterprise value$7.40B$7.16B$5.85B$5.06B$4.89B$4.69B$6.88B$5.42B$4.67B$4.29B
P/E ratio17.421.521.131.7——37.751.211.825.2
Price / sales1.81.91.51.41.61.41.91.41.72.0
Price / book1.81.81.51.31.21.01.61.31.21.5
Price / free cash flow15.214.933.931.916.010.520.389.121.019.3
Price / operating cash flow9.28.28.713.211.17.010.511.610.58.6
EV / sales2.22.21.91.82.22.22.41.82.12.4
EV / EBITDA9.511.010.012.3——14.814.015.79.6
EV / free cash flow18.217.342.341.621.915.826.1120.126.523.2
Earnings yield5.7%4.6%4.7%3.2%−6.9%−8.8%2.7%2.0%8.5%4.0%
Free cash flow yield6.6%6.7%2.9%3.1%6.3%9.6%4.9%1.1%4.8%5.2%
Dividend yield——0.0%—0.1%0.1%0.1%—0.0%0.2%
Shareholder yield (dividends + buybacks)5.7%2.8%2.4%0.6%0.1%0.2%0.1%0.0%0.1%0.3%
Share price at fiscal year-end$110.18$105.80$78.48$64.35$59.42$51.83$89.53$67.36$66.80$66.50
Per share
Revenue per share$60.02$55.97$51.65$46.16$37.41$36.24$47.38$49.77$40.00$33.09
Earnings per share$6.33$4.91$3.72$2.03−$4.11−$4.55$2.38$1.31$5.66$2.64
Operating cash flow per share$11.96$12.96$9.03$4.88$5.35$7.43$8.54$5.81$6.38$7.77
Free cash flow per share$7.24$7.09$2.31$2.01$3.72$4.95$4.40$0.76$3.18$3.45
Cash per share$1.41$1.28$0.54$1.34$0.58$1.34$0.41$0.13$0.36$0.11
Book value per share$60.32$57.44$53.22$50.44$48.06$51.48$56.23$53.83$56.19$45.09
Tangible book value per share$51.95$49.33$45.17$42.31$39.76$39.35$36.79$34.10$35.09$32.28
Dividends per share——$0.00—$0.04$0.05$0.06—$0.00$0.16
Capex per share$4.72$5.87$6.71$2.86$1.63$2.47$4.14$5.06$3.20$4.32
Debt per share$23.28$18.14$19.86$20.86$22.60$27.79$25.65$23.63$17.93$13.86
Shares outstanding56.0M58.4M59.9M60.3M60.1M59.9M59.9M59.7M55.4M53.5M
Change in shares outstanding−4.0%−2.5%−0.8%+0.5%+0.2%+0.0%+0.4%+7.8%+3.5%−2.4%
Returns & profitability
Return on equity (ROE)10.5%8.8%7.2%4.1%−8.3%−8.4%4.3%2.5%11.3%6.0%
Return on invested capital (ROIC)8.3%7.3%5.9%3.4%−4.6%−7.0%3.8%2.5%2.6%5.0%
Return on assets (ROA)6.0%5.0%4.0%2.2%−4.4%−4.5%2.4%1.4%6.6%3.3%
Return on tangible assets6.4%5.3%4.3%2.4%−5.0%−5.2%2.9%1.7%7.9%3.9%
Free cash flow margin12.1%12.7%4.5%4.4%10.0%13.7%9.3%1.5%8.0%10.4%
Income quality (OCF / net income)1.892.642.422.41——3.604.421.132.94
Financial health
Total debt$1.30B$1.06B$1.19B$1.26B$1.36B$1.66B$1.54B$1.41B$992.4M$741.6M
Cash & short-term investments$78.8M$74.4M$32.6M$80.6M$34.8M$80.3M$24.7M$7.8M$20.1M$5.6M
Net debt$1.23B$984.4M$1.16B$1.18B$1.32B$1.58B$1.51B$1.40B$972.3M$735.9M
Debt / equity0.390.320.370.410.470.540.460.440.320.31
Debt / assets0.220.180.210.230.250.280.250.240.190.17
Net debt / EBITDA1.571.511.972.87——3.253.633.271.65
Current ratio1.531.451.681.891.852.251.781.801.991.80
Quick ratio0.960.921.011.171.241.581.100.971.341.29
Interest coverage10.68.16.44.3-6.1-8.64.33.34.414.0
Working capital$371.3M$333.8M$459.4M$569.6M$460.1M$581.9M$403.5M$488.7M$476.8M$288.2M
Invested capital$4.61B$4.34B$4.34B$4.22B$4.21B$4.67B$4.88B$4.62B$4.08B$3.15B
Tangible asset value$2.91B$2.88B$2.71B$2.55B$2.39B$2.36B$2.21B$2.04B$1.95B$1.73B
Net current asset value−$1.58B−$1.43B−$1.40B−$1.30B−$1.51B−$1.79B−$1.79B−$1.56B−$1.06B−$1.24B
Graham number$92.66$79.68$66.78$47.96——$54.83$39.90$84.57$51.78
Graham net-net per share−$35.12−$31.27−$30.77−$29.00−$31.37−$35.91−$35.80−$33.55−$25.58−$27.99
Capital allocation
Dividends paid——$1—$2.2M$2.8M$3.7M—$7,000$8.4M
Share buybacks (net)$354.2M$174.6M$112.8M$22.9M$2.9M$3.2M$2.0M$776,000$2.9M$1.8M
Dividend payout ratio——0.0%———2.6%—0.0%6.0%
Dividends + buybacks / free cash flow87.3%42.2%81.4%18.8%2.3%2.0%2.2%1.7%1.6%5.6%
Capex / revenue7.9%10.5%13.0%6.2%4.4%6.8%8.7%10.2%8.0%13.0%
Capex / operating cash flow39.5%45.3%74.4%58.7%30.5%33.3%48.5%87.0%50.2%55.6%
Capex / depreciation1.001.431.670.860.460.671.131.340.871.15
Stock-based compensation / revenue0.5%0.5%0.5%0.5%0.7%0.7%0.5%0.6%0.5%0.7%
SG&A / revenue11.7%10.3%10.8%12.0%13.5%11.9%11.0%10.2%10.0%9.9%
Efficiency
Days sales outstanding58.662.369.576.494.991.164.666.478.481.0
Days of inventory on hand58.363.469.964.062.769.769.763.051.950.9
Days payables outstanding34.638.941.838.535.438.939.338.237.036.8
Cash conversion cycle (days)82.386.897.6101.9122.2121.895.091.193.495.1
Receivables turnover6.235.865.254.783.854.015.655.504.664.51
Payables turnover10.569.378.749.4810.329.379.289.549.889.92
Inventory turnover6.265.755.225.705.825.245.245.807.037.17
Asset turnover0.570.560.550.510.400.360.480.540.470.42
Average receivables$539.9M$557.7M$588.3M$582.9M$584.1M$541.8M$502.6M$540.2M$475.5M$392.9M
Average payables$235.0M$260.4M$273.7M$238.6M$180.8M$184.6M$242.4M$250.0M$178.3M$133.7M
Average inventory$396.0M$424.1M$458.1M$396.6M$320.5M$330.5M$429.4M$411.6M$250.6M$185.0M
Intangibles / total assets7.8%8.1%8.4%8.8%9.2%12.3%19.2%20.1%22.8%15.9%

Computed from KEX's annual financial statements (latest annual report filed February 17, 2026) and the closing share price on each fiscal year-end, adjusted for stock splits. Figures in U.S. dollars; data from EODHD. Averages use the opening and closing balance of each year.

KEX valuation and financial ratios

At the end of fiscal 2025 (December 31, 2025), Kirby traded at 17.4 times earnings, against a 10-year median of 23.3. Based on the latest twelve months, the trailing P/E is 21.0 and the forward P/E is 15.6. Kirby earned a return on equity of 10.5% and a return on invested capital of 8.3% in fiscal 2025. It ended the year with $1.3 billion of debt and $78.8 million in cash and short-term investments, net debt of $1.2 billion. It returned $354.2 million to shareholders: $0 in dividends and $354.2 million in share buybacks, 87% of free cash flow. The share count rose 4.7% from 53.5M to 56.0M over 9 years.

See the KEX income statement, the KEX chart for price history, or the KEX stock overview for the latest quote and news.

KEX key metrics FAQ

What is Kirby's P/E ratio?

Kirby's trailing P/E ratio is 21.0 based on the last twelve months of earnings (as of October 18, 2026), and its forward P/E is 15.6. At the end of fiscal 2025 it was 17.4, compared with a 10-year median of 23.3.

What is Kirby's EV/EBITDA?

Kirby's enterprise value was 9.5 times EBITDA at the end of fiscal 2025 (enterprise value $7.4 billion, EBITDA $781.9 million); the current EV/EBITDA is 10.4.

What is Kirby's return on equity?

Kirby's return on equity (ROE) was 10.5% in fiscal 2025: net income of $354.6 million on average shareholders' equity of $3.4 billion.

What is Kirby's ROIC?

Kirby's return on invested capital was 8.3% in fiscal 2025, using after-tax operating income divided by average debt plus equity minus cash.

How much debt does Kirby have?

Kirby had total debt of $1.3 billion at the end of fiscal 2025, a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.39 and $1.2 billion of net debt (1.57 times EBITDA).

Does Kirby buy back its shares?

Yes. Kirby spent $354.2 million on net share repurchases in fiscal 2025 Shares outstanding changed −4.0% over the year, to 56.0M..

What is Kirby's free cash flow yield?

Kirby generated $405.7 million of free cash flow in fiscal 2025, a free cash flow yield of 6.6% on its market value at year-end ($6.2 billion).

What is Kirby's current ratio?

Kirby's current ratio was 1.53 at the end of fiscal 2025: current assets were 1.53 times current liabilities.

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