Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) Shares Up 0.4% After Analyst Upgrade

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)’s stock price rose 0.4% during trading on Thursday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $24.00 to $25.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Kinder Morgan traded as high as $20.91 and last traded at $20.91. Approximately 1,603,829 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 88% from the average daily volume of 13,790,627 shares. The stock had previously closed at $20.83.

Several other research analysts have also recently weighed in on KMI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays raised their price target on Kinder Morgan from $20.00 to $21.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, July 29th. Tudor Pickering raised Kinder Morgan to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. Finally, Argus raised shares of Kinder Morgan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target for the company in a research note on Friday, July 19th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kinder Morgan has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $22.30.

Insider Activity at Kinder Morgan

In other 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 value of $455,026.25. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 25,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $534,841.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. In related news, VP Sital K. Mody sold 21,413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.25, for a total transaction of $455,026.25. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $534,841.25. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, President Thomas A. Martin sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.01, for a total transaction of $2,101,000.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 916,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,261,400.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 148,311 shares of company stock valued at $3,121,891. Insiders own 12.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KMI. True Wealth Design LLC increased its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 3,655.3% during the fourth quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,427 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares during the period. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in Kinder Morgan during the 1st quarter valued at $30,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in Kinder Morgan in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan in the 1st quarter worth about $31,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan during the 1st quarter valued at about $31,000. Institutional investors own 62.52% of the company’s stock.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

The company has a market cap of $46.39 billion, a PE ratio of 19.01, a PEG ratio of 2.94 and a beta of 0.93. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $20.96 and its 200-day moving average is $19.53. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by ($0.01). The firm had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.13 billion. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 15.93%. The firm’s revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.24 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.2875 per share. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.50%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 104.55%.

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.