Kinder Morgan, Inc. Declares Quarterly Dividend of $0.29 (NYSE:KMI)

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, October 17th, Wall Street Journal reports. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be paid a dividend of 0.2875 per share by the pipeline company on Friday, November 15th. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.63%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st.

Kinder Morgan has increased its dividend by an average of 2.7% annually over the last three years. Kinder Morgan has a payout ratio of 92.0% meaning its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings tumble. Analysts expect Kinder Morgan to earn $1.22 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.15 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 94.3%.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

Shares of KMI traded down $0.11 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $24.82. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 24,123,764 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,884,151. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. Kinder Morgan has a 1-year low of $15.91 and a 1-year high of $25.43. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $21.96 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $20.39. The stock has a market cap of $55.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.66, a PEG ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.93.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.02). Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 15.93% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.25 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Dax Sanders sold 1,729 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total value of $36,309.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 307,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,455,589. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. In other Kinder Morgan news, VP Sital K. Mody sold 21,413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.25, for a total transaction of $455,026.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 25,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $534,841.25. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP Dax Sanders sold 1,729 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total transaction of $36,309.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 307,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,455,589. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 148,311 shares of company stock worth $3,121,891. 12.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently commented on the stock. Argus upgraded shares of Kinder Morgan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Kinder Morgan from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays boosted their price target on Kinder Morgan from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised shares of Kinder Morgan from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, September 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kinder Morgan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.09.

About Kinder Morgan

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.