KEX vs NVGS Stock Comparison

Kirby and Navigator Holdings Prices as of Oct 26, 2026 Peers: Industry group
KEX Kirby Corp
$134.74 +4.5% 1M +55.1% 1Y
Market cap
$7.33B
P/E
20.6x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.49B
Div. yield
–
Marine Shipping Industrials
3 wins
NVGS Navigator Holdings Ltd.
$21.69 -5.8% 1M +37.9% 1Y
Market cap
$1.44B
P/E
10.0x
Revenue (TTM)
$579.12M
Div. yield
–
Marine Shipping Industrials
8 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Navigator Holdings leads on 8 of the 12 questions below (Navigator Holdings 8, Kirby 3). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionKEXNVGSLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $7.33B $1.44B KEX
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 20.6x 10.0x NVGS
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 19.6x 9.4x NVGS
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +6.6% +9.6% NVGS
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months 10.2% 24.9% NVGS
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital 8.3% 14.9% NVGS
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA 1.3x 1.3x NVGS
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield 0.00% 0.00% –
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +55.1% +37.9% KEX
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +19.4%/yr +22.0%/yr NVGS
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 29.0% 31.5% KEX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers 64/100 75/100 NVGS

Percentile Scorecard

KEXNVGS

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

AxisKEXNVGS
Valuation 42 #80 of 136 73 #38 of 136
Growth 79 #26 of 122 84 #20 of 122
Profitability 53 #55 of 116 85 #18 of 116
Financial Health 64 #52 of 144 59 #59 of 144
Shareholder Returns 80 #17 of 82 73 #23 of 82
Overall 64 75
  • KEX ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • NVGS ranked among 150 companies in Transportation

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodKEXNVGSSPY
1 month +4.5%-5.8% -0.8%
3 months -7.1%-0.1% +3.5%
6 months -11.6%+2.0% +7.0%
Year to date +22.3%+25.2% +12.2%
1 year +55.1%+37.9% +13.0%
3 years +80.4%+53.4% +86.3%
3 years, per year +21.7%+15.3% +23.1%
5 years +142.3%+170.1% +68.6%
5 years, per year +19.4%+22.0% +11.0%
10 years +142.1%+195.1% +258.0%
10 years, per year +9.2%+11.4% +13.6%

Risk

MeasureKEXNVGSSPY
Volatility, 1Y 29.0%31.5% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 27.1%34.2% 12.7%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.550.39 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.901.20 1.02
Max drawdown, 5Y -38.8%-39.5% -25.4%
From 52-week high -11.7%-13.6% -1.8%
52-week high $152.59$25.09 $779.14
52-week low $88.64$15.95 $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.

MultipleKEXNVGS
P/E now vs peer median 20.2xmedian 16.1x 10.1xmedian 16.1x
P/S now vs peer median 2.0xmedian 1.0x 2.4xmedian 1.0x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median 10.6xmedian 8.7x 4.6xmedian 8.7x
P/FCF now vs peer median 15.0xmedian 11.5x 11.5xmedian 11.5x
P/B now vs peer median 2.1xmedian 1.2x 1.1xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.64median 0.81 0.25median 0.81

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 monthsKEXNVGS
Revenue $3.49B $579.12M
Gross profit $1.16B $389.30M
Operating income $488.92M $300.01M
Net income $355.89M $148.27M
Free cash flow $475.58M $122.80M
EPS (diluted) $6.62 $2.12
Cash & equivalents $38.96M $225.89M
Total debt $1.04B $781.93M
Shares (diluted) 53.70M 68.04M
Enterprise value $7.11B $742.04M

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
MetricKEXNVGS
P/E 20.2x 10.1x
P/FCF 15.0x 11.5x
P/Operating cash flow 10.0x 7.3x
P/S 2.0x 2.4x
P/B 2.1x 1.1x
P/Tangible book 2.1x 1.1x
EV/EBITDA 10.6x 4.6x
EV/EBIT 16.6x 6.6x
EV/Revenue 2.3x 3.4x
EV/FCF 17.1x 16.1x
EV/Operating cash flow 11.4x 10.2x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.64 0.25

Growth

14 metrics
MetricKEXNVGS
Revenue growth (1Y) 6.6% 9.6%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 5.1% 8.7%
Gross profit growth (1Y) 5.0% 12.9%
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) 11.8% 11.1%
Operating income growth (1Y) 18.0% 24.4%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 22.6% 32.0%
Net income growth (1Y) 17.2% 58.9%
Net income CAGR (3Y) 26.8% 35.6%
EPS growth (1Y) 23.2% 64.7%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 31.6% 41.1%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 21.4% -2.1%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 18.5% 11.0%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) 82.1% 136.0%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) 43.3% 64.4%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricKEXNVGS
Gross margin 33.2% 67.2%
EBITDA margin 21.8% 74.6%
Operating margin 14.0% 51.8%
Pretax margin 13.5% 46.2%
Net margin 10.2% 24.9%
FCF margin 13.6% 21.2%
Operating cash flow margin 20.3% 33.4%
Return on equity 10.4% 22.8%
Return on assets 5.8% 12.4%
Return on invested capital 8.3% 14.9%
Return on capital employed 9.0% 14.5%
Asset turnover 0.6x 0.3x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) 2.0x 1.3x
Stock comp / revenue 0.5% 0.4%

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricKEXNVGS
Debt / assets 16.7% 33.7%
Debt / equity 0.3x 0.6x
Net debt / EBITDA 1.3x 1.3x
Debt / FCF 2.2x 6.4x
Liabilities / assets 44.6% 45.2%
Equity / assets 55.4% 54.8%
Interest coverage 11.0x 11.2x
Current ratio 1.7x 1.7x
Quick ratio 1.0x 1.2x
Cash ratio 0.1x 1.0x
Altman Z-score 3.24 1.83

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricKEXNVGS
Dividend yield – 1.3%
Net buyback yield 4.6% 6.8%
Shareholder yield 4.6% 8.1%
Payout ratio (earnings) – –
Payout ratio (FCF) – –
Dividend growth (1Y) – –
Dividend CAGR (3Y) – –

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.

ConsensusKEXNVGS
Forward P/E 19.6xFY2026 9.4xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $6.86FY2026 $2.30FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +8.4%FY2026 +94.9%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +29.0% -27.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.49BFY2026 $566.07MFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +4.0%FY2026 +5.1%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +4.7% -13.6%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersKEXNVGS
Held by institutions 99.6% 37.4%
Institutions holding 464 174
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.1% +0.6%
Institutions buying 252 107
Institutions selling 145 41
Buyers to sellers 1.74 2.61

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.

KEXNVGS
KEX 1.00 0.24
NVGS 0.24 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, KEX and NVGS?

Kirby (KEX) is the largest by market capitalisation: Kirby (KEX) $7.33B, Navigator Holdings (NVGS) $1.44B.

Which stock is cheaper, KEX and NVGS?

Navigator Holdings (NVGS) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Kirby (KEX) 20.6x, Navigator Holdings (NVGS) 10.0x). On next year's consensus earnings, Navigator Holdings (NVGS) is cheapest (Kirby (KEX) 19.6x, Navigator Holdings (NVGS) 9.4x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Navigator Holdings (NVGS) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Kirby (KEX) +6.6%, Navigator Holdings (NVGS) +9.6%.

Which company is more profitable?

Navigator Holdings (NVGS) has the highest net margin (Kirby (KEX) 10.2%, Navigator Holdings (NVGS) 24.9%). On return on invested capital, Navigator Holdings (NVGS) leads (Kirby (KEX) 8.3%, Navigator Holdings (NVGS) 14.9%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Kirby (KEX) returned the most: Kirby (KEX) +55.1%, Navigator Holdings (NVGS) +37.9%. Over five years, Navigator Holdings (NVGS) compounded fastest (Kirby (KEX) +19.4%/yr, Navigator Holdings (NVGS) +22.0%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Kirby (KEX) has been the steadiest (Kirby (KEX) 29.0%, Navigator Holdings (NVGS) 31.5%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Do KEX and NVGS move together?

Their daily returns over the past year have a correlation of 0.24, a weak relationship. Holding both diversifies more than two closely linked stocks would.

Which is the better stock, KEX and NVGS?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Navigator Holdings (NVGS) leads on 8. 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.