Wells Fargo analyst Michael Webber raised his price target for Kirby to $100 from $89 as he believes its recovery should continue to gain momentum in Q2 and throughout 2018, particularly as pricing/utilization within its core inland barge market continue to gain strength. The analyst reiterates an Outperform rating on the shares.

As previously reported, Wolfe Research initiated coverage of Kirby with an Outperform rating and $126 price target. Kirby, the largest domestic tank barge operator in the U.S., has outperformed materially over the past year, but the firm sees more upside ahead with visibility to continued barge industry capacity constraints and strong pricing power the next few years, the analyst tells investors. In contrast to over-capacity challenges and pricing headwinds across most other transport sub-sectors right now, the multi-year supply/demand outlook for the barge industry has "arguably never been better," the analyst added.