KEX vs SUNB vs FRO Stock Comparison

Kirby, Sunbelt Rentals Holdings and Frontline Prices as of Oct 29, 2026 Peers: Industry group
KEX Kirby Corp
$145.98 +10.7% 1M +44.5% 1Y
Market cap
$7.71B
P/E
20.9x
Revenue (TTM)
$3.60B
Div. yield
–
Marine Shipping Industrials
1 win
FRO Frontline plc
$56.54 +15.6% 1M +128.4% 1Y
Market cap
$12.59B
P/E
8.5x
Revenue (TTM)
$2.71B
Div. yield
6.31%
Marine Shipping Industrials
9 wins

Head to Head

11 decided of 12

Frontline leads on 9 of the 12 questions below (Frontline 9, Sunbelt Rentals Holdings 1, Kirby 1). Which ones matter depends on what you are buying for; a cheap multiple and slow growth often come together.

QuestionKEXSUNBFROLeader
Larger companyMarket capitalisation $7.71B $34.56B $12.59B SUNB
Cheaper on earningsLower P/E, profitable companies only 20.9x 22.5x 8.5x FRO
Cheaper on forward earningsLower price / next fiscal year consensus EPS 21.3x 20.8x 5.7x FRO
Faster revenue growthRevenue growth, trailing twelve months +8.5% — +48.8% FRO
More profitableNet margin, trailing twelve months — 13.3% 54.8% FRO
Better return on capitalReturn on invested capital — 11.8% 29.5% FRO
Less leveragedLower net debt / EBITDA — 1.8x — –
Higher dividend yieldTrailing dividend yield — 1.25% 6.31% FRO
Better 1-year returnPrice return, last 12 months +44.5% +23.0% +128.4% FRO
Better 5-year returnAnnualised price return, 5 years +22.8%/yr +0.1%/yr +45.1%/yr FRO
Less volatileAnnualised volatility, 1 year 26.7% 44.8% 44.8% KEX
Higher overall scoreMean of the five percentile scores vs peers — 65/100 79/100 FRO

Percentile Scorecard

KEXSUNBFRO

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

AxisKEXSUNBFRO
Valuation 43 #78 of 136 64 #17 of 46 47 #72 of 136
Growth 79 #26 of 121 – 97 #5 of 121
Profitability – 90 #5 of 39 98 #3 of 112
Financial Health – 22 #37 of 47 67 #47 of 140
Shareholder Returns – 83 #6 of 31 87 #11 of 80
Overall – 65 79
  • KEX ranked among 150 companies in Transportation
  • SUNB ranked among 49 companies in Distribution and Rental
  • FRO ranked among 150 companies in Transportation

Price Performance

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

Returns

PeriodKEXSUNBFROSPY
1 month +10.7%+14.2%+15.6% +0.7%
3 months +10.3%+16.2%+44.6% +3.7%
6 months -3.0%+10.2%+54.9% +7.1%
Year to date +32.5%+23.5%+159.1% +12.8%
1 year +44.5%+23.0%+128.4% +11.9%
3 years +97.6%+47.4%+158.8% +85.2%
3 years, per year +25.5%+13.8%+37.3% +22.8%
5 years +178.5%+0.4%+541.8% +67.6%
5 years, per year +22.8%+0.1%+45.1% +10.9%
10 years +147.4%+444.3%+663.0% +262.0%
10 years, per year +9.5%+18.5%+22.5% +13.7%

Risk

MeasureKEXSUNBFROSPY
Volatility, 1Y 26.7%44.8%44.8% 12.7%
Downside volatility, 1Y 27.1%43.7%45.2% 12.6%
Beta vs S&P 500, 1Y 0.561.350.50 1.00
Return / volatility, 1Y 1.670.512.87 0.94
Max drawdown, 5Y -38.8%-54.4%-56.1% -25.4%
From 52-week high -4.3%-2.0%-4.5% -1.2%
52-week high $152.59$86.06$59.22 $779.14
52-week low $100.99$60.42$20.58 $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.

MultipleKEXSUNBFRO
P/E now vs peer median 20.9xmedian 16.5x 22.5xmedian 26.2x 8.5xmedian 16.5x
P/S now vs peer median 2.1xmedian 0.9x 3.0xmedian 1.1x 4.6xmedian 0.9x
EV/EBITDA now vs peer median —median 8.8x 9.1xmedian 13.5x —median 8.8x
P/FCF now vs peer median 14.6xmedian 11.9x 22.4xmedian 23.0x 6.2xmedian 11.9x
P/B now vs peer median —median 1.2x 4.6xmedian 2.6x 4.0xmedian 1.2x
PEG now vs peer median 0.75median 0.84 —median 2.55 0.45median 0.84

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 monthsKEXSUNBFRO
Revenue $3.60B $11.52B $2.71B
Gross profit – $4.56B –
Operating income $510.61M $2.46B $1.63B
Net income – $1.54B $1.49B
Free cash flow – $1.54B $2.02B
EPS (diluted) $6.96 $3.74 $6.68
Cash & equivalents – $32.00M $321.42M
Total debt – $8.56B $2.43B
Shares (diluted) 53.70M 411.31M 222.62M
Enterprise value $7.71B $34.43B $11.35B

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
MetricKEXSUNBFRO
P/E 20.9x 22.5x 8.5x
P/FCF 14.6x 22.4x 6.2x
P/Operating cash flow 12.3x 9.5x 9.3x
P/S 2.1x 3.0x 4.6x
P/B – 4.6x 4.0x
P/Tangible book – 4.9x 4.0x
EV/EBITDA – 9.1x –
EV/EBIT – 17.5x 9.0x
EV/Revenue 2.1x 3.7x 5.4x
EV/FCF – 27.9x 7.3x
EV/Operating cash flow 12.3x 11.8x 10.9x
PEG (3Y EPS CAGR) 0.75 – 0.45

Growth

14 metrics
MetricKEXSUNBFRO
Revenue growth (1Y) 8.5% – 48.8%
Revenue CAGR (3Y) 6.0% – 12.2%
Gross profit growth (1Y) – – –
Gross profit CAGR (3Y) – – –
Operating income growth (1Y) 22.5% – 226.3%
Operating income CAGR (3Y) 19.4% – 24.1%
Net income growth (1Y) – – 524.5%
Net income CAGR (3Y) – – 21.7%
EPS growth (1Y) 27.4% – 524.5%
EPS CAGR (3Y) 28.0% – 19.0%
Operating cash flow growth (1Y) 3.3% – 116.9%
Operating cash flow CAGR (3Y) 11.0% – 17.1%
Free cash flow growth (1Y) – – 218.6%
Free cash flow CAGR (3Y) – – 20.5%

Profitability

14 metrics
MetricKEXSUNBFRO
Gross margin – 39.6% –
EBITDA margin – 41.1% –
Operating margin – 21.4% 60.1%
Pretax margin – 18.0% 54.9%
Net margin – 13.3% 54.8%
FCF margin – 13.4% 74.3%
Operating cash flow margin 17.4% 31.7% 49.8%
Return on equity – 20.7% 49.6%
Return on assets – 6.7% 25.9%
Return on invested capital – 11.8% 29.5%
Return on capital employed – 12.2% 31.0%
Asset turnover – 0.5x 0.5x
Cash conversion (OCF / net income) – 2.4x 0.9x
Stock comp / revenue – 0.6% –

Financial Health

11 metrics
MetricKEXSUNBFRO
Debt / assets – 36.2% 41.9%
Debt / equity – 1.1x 0.8x
Net debt / EBITDA – 1.8x –
Debt / FCF – 5.5x 1.2x
Liabilities / assets – 68.5% 45.7%
Equity / assets – 31.5% 54.3%
Interest coverage – – 8.8x
Current ratio – 0.9x 1.9x
Quick ratio – 0.8x 1.4x
Cash ratio – 0.0x 0.7x
Altman Z-score – 2.57 4.64

Shareholder Returns

7 metrics
MetricKEXSUNBFRO
Dividend yield – 1.2% 6.3%
Net buyback yield – 2.9% –
Shareholder yield – 4.2% 6.3%
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.

ConsensusKEXSUNBFRO
Forward P/E 21.3xFY2026 20.8xFY2026 5.7xFY2026
EPS, next fiscal year $6.86FY2026 $4.05FY2026 $9.98FY2026
EPS growth, next FY +8.4%FY2026 +8.9%FY2026 +487.1%FY2026
EPS growth, the year after +29.0% +25.4% -49.8%
Revenue, next fiscal year $3.49BFY2026 $12.64BFY2026 $2.52BFY2026
Revenue growth, next FY +4.0%FY2026 +13.3%FY2026 +110.2%FY2026
Revenue growth, the year after +4.7% +9.7% -18.3%

Institutional Ownership

13F filings, quarter ended Jun 30, 2026
HoldersKEXSUNBFRO
Held by institutions 99.6% 78.3% 33.6%
Institutions holding 465 496 262
Change in shares held, QoQ -0.1% +9.2% +36.6%
Institutions buying 252 315 152
Institutions selling 145 136 75
Buyers to sellers 1.74 2.32 2.03

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.

KEXSUNBFRO
KEX 1.00 0.15 0.15
SUNB 0.15 1.00 0.06
FRO 0.15 0.06 1.00

Add a Peer

Largest companies in the same industry

Related Comparisons

Frequently Asked Questions

Which is bigger, KEX, SUNB and FRO?

Sunbelt Rentals Holdings (SUNB) is the largest by market capitalisation: Kirby (KEX) $7.71B, Sunbelt Rentals Holdings (SUNB) $34.56B, Frontline (FRO) $12.59B.

Which stock is cheaper, KEX, SUNB and FRO?

Frontline (FRO) trades on the lowest price-to-earnings ratio (Kirby (KEX) 20.9x, Sunbelt Rentals Holdings (SUNB) 22.5x, Frontline (FRO) 8.5x). On next year's consensus earnings, Frontline (FRO) is cheapest (Kirby (KEX) 21.3x, Sunbelt Rentals Holdings (SUNB) 20.8x, Frontline (FRO) 5.7x). A lower multiple can reflect slower expected growth, so read it next to the growth figures.

Which company is growing faster?

Frontline (FRO) grew revenue fastest over the trailing twelve months: Kirby (KEX) +8.5%, Frontline (FRO) +48.8%.

Which company is more profitable?

Frontline (FRO) has the highest net margin (Sunbelt Rentals Holdings (SUNB) 13.3%, Frontline (FRO) 54.8%). On return on invested capital, Frontline (FRO) leads (Sunbelt Rentals Holdings (SUNB) 11.8%, Frontline (FRO) 29.5%).

Which stock has performed better?

Over the past year Frontline (FRO) returned the most: Kirby (KEX) +44.5%, Sunbelt Rentals Holdings (SUNB) +23.0%, Frontline (FRO) +128.4%. Over five years, Frontline (FRO) compounded fastest (Kirby (KEX) +22.8%/yr, Sunbelt Rentals Holdings (SUNB) +0.1%/yr, Frontline (FRO) +45.1%/yr). Returns are price only, before dividends.

Which pays a higher dividend?

Frontline (FRO) has the highest dividend yield: Sunbelt Rentals Holdings (SUNB) 1.25%, Frontline (FRO) 6.31%. Kirby (KEX) pays no regular dividend.

Which stock is riskier?

By one-year price volatility, Kirby (KEX) has been the steadiest (Kirby (KEX) 26.7%, Sunbelt Rentals Holdings (SUNB) 44.8%, Frontline (FRO) 44.8%). Volatility measures how widely the price swings, not the risk of the business.

Which is the better stock, KEX, SUNB and FRO?

There is no single answer; it depends on what you are buying for. On the 12 head-to-head measures on this page, Frontline (FRO) leads on 9. 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.