Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) Short Interest Up 12.9% in October

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) saw a significant growth in short interest in October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 45,060,000 shares, a growth of 12.9% from the September 30th total of 39,910,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 13,160,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 3.4 days. Approximately 2.3% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director C Park Shaper sold 690,142 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total transaction of $17,081,014.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,809,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $168,543,985.50. 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 can be accessed through this link. In related news, VP Dax Sanders sold 1,729 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was 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 directly owns 307,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $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 can be accessed through this link. Also, Director C Park Shaper sold 690,142 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total value of $17,081,014.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,809,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $168,543,985.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Corporate insiders own 12.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kinder Morgan

Hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 22,813 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 776 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank lifted its position in Kinder Morgan by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 393,351 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,689,000 after acquiring an additional 25,406 shares in the last quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in Kinder Morgan by 1,512.7% in the 3rd quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 88,583 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,956,000 after acquiring an additional 83,090 shares in the last quarter. LSV Asset Management bought a new position in Kinder Morgan in the 1st quarter valued at approximately $8,818,000. Finally, Duality Advisers LP lifted its position in Kinder Morgan by 42.7% in the 1st quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 317,425 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $5,822,000 after acquiring an additional 94,984 shares in the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Kinder Morgan from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Argus upgraded Kinder Morgan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price target for the company in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Morgan Stanley set a $26.00 price target on Kinder Morgan in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on Kinder Morgan in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price target for the company. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, Kinder Morgan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.91.

Kinder Morgan Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of KMI traded down $0.33 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $24.51. The company had a trading volume of 12,803,563 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,799,129. The firm has a market cap of $54.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $22.72 and its 200 day moving average price is $20.84. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Kinder Morgan has a 52-week low of $16.06 and a 52-week high of $25.43.

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 analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.02). Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 16.76% and a return on equity of 7.87%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.05 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Kinder Morgan will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.2875 per share. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.69%. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 104.55%.

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.