Stifel Is Bullish On These Marine Companies - Read Why - Matson (NYSE:MATX), Kirby (NYSE:KEX)

Stifel analyst Benjamin Nolan raised the price targets on marine companies Matson Inc's MATX and Kirby Corp KEX and is bullish on the stocks.
Nolan upgraded Kirby to Buy from Hold and raised the price target to $65 (implying an upside of 20%), up from $64.
Nolan says that the demand is improving in all of Kirby's core businesses, which should accelerate with increased oil and gas activity.
The analyst adds, with the shares trading at about 12 times mid-cycle earnings, there should be "meaningful upside" as market conditions normalize "or perhaps even shift to bull market territory."
Further adds that while oil consumption is still not back to pre-Covid levels, demand is recovering, particularly in the petrochemical markets.
Nolan raised Matson's price target to $92 (implying an upside of 4%) from $80 and maintained a Buy rating on the shares after the company pre-released Q3 results that "materially exceeded" his estimates.
Nolan says that earnings may be peaking, but he expects them to remain strong for "some time," which could let Matson buy back more than 10% of its outstanding shares in the next 12 months.
Price Action: KEX shares are trading higher by 2.91% at $54.16, while MATX is higher by 7.09% at $88.53 on the last check Tuesday.

Stifel Is Bullish On These Marine Companies - Read Why