Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) Shares Up 3.2% After Analyst Upgrade

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) shares traded up 3.2% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Citigroup raised their price target on the stock from $25.00 to $28.00. Citigroup currently has a neutral rating on the stock. Kinder Morgan traded as high as $28.21 and last traded at $28.17. 4,772,515 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average session volume of 16,059,081 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.30.

Several other research firms also recently issued reports on KMI. Barclays lifted their price target on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America began coverage on Kinder Morgan in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price target for the company. UBS Group upped their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday. Finally, Scotiabank started coverage on Kinder Morgan in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $26.00 target price for the company. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kinder Morgan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.14.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.34, for a total value of $492,120.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 879,652 shares in the company, valued at $24,049,685.68. The trade was a 2.01 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Amy W. Chronis acquired 2,241 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $24.89 per share, for a total transaction of $55,778.49. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now owns 23,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $597,235.55. This trade represents a 10.30 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 55,121 shares of company stock worth $1,497,000 over the last three months. 12.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kinder Morgan

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. AQR Capital Management LLC increased its stake in Kinder Morgan by 11.2% during the second quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 457,238 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $9,040,000 after acquiring an additional 45,917 shares during the last quarter. Creative Planning increased its stake in Kinder Morgan by 16.4% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Planning now owns 391,908 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $7,787,000 after buying an additional 55,207 shares during the period. NewEdge Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 30.7% in the second quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 291,085 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $5,784,000 after buying an additional 68,308 shares in the last quarter. Quarry LP purchased a new position in Kinder Morgan in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $52,000. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Kinder Morgan by 32.3% in the 2nd quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 104,001 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,066,000 after buying an additional 25,409 shares in the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $62.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.05, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.00 and its 200-day simple moving average is $24.62.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.01). Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 17.31% and a return on equity of 8.10%. On average, equities research analysts predict that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a dividend of $0.2875 per share. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.29%.

Kinder Morgan Company Profile

Kinder Morgan, Inc operates as an energy infrastructure company primarily in North America. The company operates through Natural Gas Pipelines, Products Pipelines, Terminals, and CO2 segments. The Natural Gas Pipelines segment owns and operates interstate and intrastate natural gas pipeline, and storage systems; natural gas gathering systems and natural gas processing and treating facilities; natural gas liquids fractionation facilities and transportation systems; and liquefied natural gas gasification, liquefaction, and storage facilities.