UPDATE: Morgan Keegan Raises PT On Kirby Corporation Following Acquisition Announcement

Morgan Keegan has published a research report on Kirby Corporation KEX after the company announced its acquisition of K-Sea Transportation Partners KSP.

In the report, Morgan Keegan writes "KEX announced an agreement to purchase K-Sea Transportation Partners, an operator of tank barges and tugboats in the coast-wise refined products trade under the Jones Act. The purchase price is roughly $600 million and assumes $265 million in debt. Management maintained its 2011 guidance of $2.55 - $2.80, and there's no change to our EPS estimate of $2.70. We are increasing our 2012 estimate from $3.10 to $3.24 to incorporate earnings accretion from the KSP acquisition.The shares of KEX are currently trading at 20.9x our 2011 EPS estimate, which compares to its 10-year NTM average of 16x and its 10-year range of 8x – 21x."

Morgan Keegan maintains its Outperform rating and has raised the price target from $59 to $62.

Kirby Corporation closed yesterday at $56.33.