KEX vs MATX vs URI Stock Comparison

Kirby, Matson and United Rentals Prices as of Oct 27, 2026 Peers: Industry group
KEX Kirby Corp
$137.21 +6.4% 1M +54.7% 1Y
Market cap
$7.68B
P/E
21.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.49B
Div. yield
–
Marine Shipping Industrials
2 wins
MATX Matson, Inc.
$231.49 +3.1% 1M +136.2% 1Y
Market cap
$6.87B
P/E
14.8x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.46B
Div. yield
0.01%
Marine Shipping Industrials
5 wins
URI United Rentals, Inc.
$1,162.88 +11.1% 1M +29.2% 1Y
Market cap
$72.83B
P/E
25.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$17.50B
Div. yield
–
Equipment Rental Industrials
4 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Matson leads on 5 of the 12 questions below (Matson 5, United Rentals 4, Kirby 2). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionKEXMATXURILeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $7.68B $6.87B $72.83B URI
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 21.6x 14.8x 25.5x MATX
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 20.0x 13.2x 21.0x MATX
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.6% -0.2% +9.4% URI
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 10.2% 13.4% 16.3% URI
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 8.3% 14.3% 14.0% MATX
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.3x 0.3x 2.3x MATX
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.01% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +54.7% +136.2% +29.2% MATX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +20.4%/yr +22.6%/yr +26.0%/yr URI
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 29.0% 34.6% 42.3% KEX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 64/100 45/100 56/100 KEX

Percentile Scorecard

KEXMATXURI

Each axis is the mean percentile of its metrics against the company's industry group. 100 is the best in the group, 50 the middle.

Scores by Axis

AxisKEXMATXURI
Valuation 41 #81 of 136 32 #93 of 136 20 #37 of 46
Growth 79 #26 of 121 23 #93 of 121 92 #4 of 39
Profitability 54 #53 of 115 59 #48 of 115 95 #3 of 39
Financial Health 66 #50 of 143 70 #44 of 143 20 #38 of 47
Shareholder Returns 80 #17 of 82 42 #48 of 82 52 #16 of 32
Overall 64 45 56
  • KEX ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • MATX ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • URI ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental

Price Performance

Price return, split-adjusted, before dividends. Click a name to hide or show it.

Returns

PeriodKEXMATXURISPY
1 month +6.4%+3.1%+11.1% -0.2%
3 months -5.6%+14.0%+6.6% +3.9%
6 months -9.1%+31.9%+20.8% +8.2%
Year to date +24.5%+87.4%+43.7% +12.9%
1 year +54.7%+136.2%+29.2% +12.3%
3 years +83.7%+159.8%+191.4% +87.4%
3 years, per year +22.5%+37.5%+42.9% +23.3%
5 years +153.0%+177.2%+216.7% +67.9%
5 years, per year +20.4%+22.6%+26.0% +10.9%
10 years +131.2%+488.0%+1,424.7% +261.1%
10 years, per year +8.7%+19.4%+31.3% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureKEXMATXURISPY
Volatility, 1Y 29.0%34.6%42.3% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 27.1%26.3%39.1% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.551.001.04 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.893.940.69 0.97
Max drawdown, 5Y -38.8%-54.4%-40.0% -25.4%
From 52-week high -10.1%-2.4%-0.2% -1.2%
52-week high $152.59$237.28$1,165.29 $779.14
52-week low $88.64$97.33$710.47 $631.97

Valuation History

Weekly multiples on trailing twelve-month fundamentals. Negative or extreme readings (a loss year, a collapsed denominator) are left out so the chart stays readable.

MultipleKEXMATXURI
P/E now vs peer median 20.6xmedian 16.3x 15.0xmedian 16.3x 25.3xmedian 25.3x
P/S now vs peer median 2.1xmedian 1.0x 2.0xmedian 1.0x 4.1xmedian 1.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 10.8xmedian 8.7x 9.8xmedian 8.7x 13.7xmedian 13.4x
P/FCF now vs peer median 15.2xmedian 11.4x 62.5xmedian 11.4x 80.8xmedian 21.9x
P/B now vs peer median 2.1xmedian 1.2x 2.5xmedian 1.2x 7.4xmedian 2.6x
PEG now vs peer median 0.65median 0.82 2.50median 0.82 2.66median 2.38

Financial History

Reported figures by fiscal period, placed on the calendar year (or quarter) each period ended in, so companies with different fiscal years line up.

Trailing twelve monthsKEXMATXURI
Revenue $3.49B $3.46B $17.50B
Gross profit $1.16B – $6.84B
Operating income $488.92M $525.00M $4.47B
Net income $355.89M $463.80M $2.86B
Free cash flow $475.58M $110.70M $892.00M
EPS (diluted) $6.62 $15.31 $45.89
Cash & equivalents $38.96M $119.30M $153.00M
Total debt $1.04B $332.40M $14.67B
Shares (diluted) 53.70M 30.30M 62.26M
Enterprise value $7.46B $6.41B $71.95B

All Metrics

58 metrics · best in bold

Bold marks the best reading: the lowest positive value for multiples, leverage and payout, the highest for everything else. The bar under each value is its percentile against that company's own peers. Hover a value for its rank and the peer median.

Valuation

12 metrics
MetricKEXMATXURI
P/E 20.6x 15.0x 25.3x
P/FCF 15.2x 62.5x 80.8x
P/Operating cash flow 10.2x 11.9x 11.6x
P/S 2.1x 2.0x 4.1x
P/B 2.1x 2.5x 7.4x
P/Tangible book 2.1x 2.6x 7.8x
EV/EBITDA 10.8x 9.8x 13.7x
EV/EBIT 16.9x 13.6x 19.4x
EV/Revenue 2.4x 2.1x 5.0x
EV/FCF 17.3x 64.5x 97.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 11.6x 12.2x 14.0x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.65 2.50 2.66

Growth

14 metrics
MetricKEXMATXURI
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.6% -0.2% 9.4%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.1% 0.6% 8.0%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 5.0% – 10.4%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 11.8% – 6.0%
Operating income growth (1Y) 18.0% -10.2% 11.5%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 22.6% -2.3% 5.7%
Net income growth (1Y) 17.2% -6.1% 12.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 26.8% 0.4% 6.2%
EPS growth (1Y) 23.2% 0.4% 16.6%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 31.6% 6.0% 9.5%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 21.4% -5.5% 24.2%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 18.5% -11.0% 10.9%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 82.1% -57.0% 98.2%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 43.3% -42.1% 83.7%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricKEXMATXURI
Gross margin 33.2% – 39.1%
EBITDA margin 21.8% 21.0% 36.1%
Operating margin 14.0% 15.2% 25.5%
Pretax margin 13.5% 15.9% 21.8%
Net margin 10.2% 13.4% 16.3%
FCF margin 13.6% 3.2% 5.1%
Operating cash flow margin 20.3% 16.9% 35.4%
Return on equity 10.4% 16.9% 30.2%
Return on assets 5.8% 10.0% 8.9%
Return on invested capital 8.3% 14.3% 14.0%
Return on capital employed 9.0% 13.0% 16.5%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.7x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.0x 1.3x 2.2x
Stock comp / revenue 0.5% 0.7% 0.9%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricKEXMATXURI
Debt / assets 16.7% 7.1% 44.7%
Debt / equity 0.3x 0.1x 1.5x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.3x 0.3x 2.3x
Debt / FCF 2.2x 3.0x 16.4x
Liabilities / assets 44.6% 41.2% 70.4%
Equity / assets 55.4% 58.8% 29.6%
Interest coverage 11.0x 79.5x –
Current ratio 1.7x 0.9x 0.8x
Quick ratio 1.0x 0.8x 0.6x
Cash ratio 0.1x 0.2x 0.0x
Altman Z-score 3.27 3.96 3.57

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricKEXMATXURI
Dividend yield – 0.6% 0.7%
Net buyback yield 4.5% 3.8% 2.5%
Shareholder yield 4.5% 4.4% 3.2%
Payout ratio (earnings) – 9.6% –
Payout ratio (FCF) – 40.3% –
Dividend growth (1Y) – -0.9% –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – -0.6% –

Analyst Estimates

Solid lines are reported fiscal-year results; dashed lines are the consensus for the years ahead. Hover a year for the analysts' high and low, and how each result compared with its estimate.

ConsensusKEXMATXURI
Forward P/E 20.0xFY2026 13.2xFY2026 21.0xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $6.86FY2026 $17.50FY2026 $55.27FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +8.4%FY2026 +26.7%FY2026 +31.4%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +29.0% -8.5% +6.3%
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.49BFY2026 $3.45BFY2026 $18.69BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +4.0%FY2026 +3.2%FY2026 +16.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +4.7% +6.1% +3.1%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersKEXMATXURI
Held by institutions 99.6% 86.3% 95.9%
Institutions holding 464 428 1,587
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.1% +0.4% +4.7%
Institutions buying 252 212 804
Institutions selling 145 134 537
Buyers to sellers 1.74 1.58 1.50

Return Correlation

Daily returns, last 12 months

1.00 means two stocks move in lockstep, 0 that they move independently. Pairs below about 0.5 diversify each other.

KEXMATXURI
KEX 1.00 0.37 0.29
MATX 0.37 1.00 0.17
URI 0.29 0.17 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, KEX, MATX and URI?

United Rentals (URI) is the largest by market capitalisation: Kirby (KEX) $7.68B, Matson (MATX) $6.87B, United Rentals (URI) $72.83B.

Which stock is cheaper, KEX, MATX and URI?

Matson (MATX) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Kirby (KEX) 21.6x, Matson (MATX) 14.8x, United Rentals (URI) 25.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Matson (MATX) is cheapest (Kirby (KEX) 20.0x, Matson (MATX) 13.2x, United Rentals (URI) 21.0x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

United Rentals (URI) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Kirby (KEX) +6.6%, Matson (MATX) -0.2%, United Rentals (URI) +9.4%.

Which company is more profitable?

United Rentals (URI) has the highest net margin (Kirby (KEX) 10.2%, Matson (MATX) 13.4%, United Rentals (URI) 16.3%). On return on invested capital, Matson (MATX) leads (Kirby (KEX) 8.3%, Matson (MATX) 14.3%, United Rentals (URI) 14.0%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Matson (MATX) returned the most: Kirby (KEX) +54.7%, Matson (MATX) +136.2%, United Rentals (URI) +29.2%. Over five years, United Rentals (URI) compounded fastest (Kirby (KEX) +20.4%/yr, Matson (MATX) +22.6%/yr, United Rentals (URI) +26.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Only one of these companies pays a dividend: Kirby (KEX) 0.00%, Matson (MATX) 0.01%, United Rentals (URI) 0.00%. Kirby (KEX) and United Rentals (URI) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Kirby (KEX) has been the steadiest (Kirby (KEX) 29.0%, Matson (MATX) 34.6%, United Rentals (URI) 42.3%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, KEX, MATX and URI?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Matson (MATX) leads on 5. Business Quant does not give investment advice; use the comparison as a starting point for your own research.

Data from SEC filings, exchange prices and consensus estimates, via Business Quant. Percentile scores compare each company with its own peer group, so two companies' scores are each relative to different peers unless you rank against the whole market. Price returns exclude dividends. Nothing on this page is investment advice.