Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) Sets New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) shares hit a new 52-week high on Monday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $30.00 to $33.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Kinder Morgan traded as high as $27.68 and last traded at $27.63, with a volume of 2369246 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $27.27.

Several other research analysts have also commented on the company. Barclays raised their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reaffirmed a “conviction-buy” rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Friday, October 18th. 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 report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $22.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.36.

Insider Activity

In other Kinder Morgan news, Director C Park Shaper sold 690,142 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 owns 6,809,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $168,543,985.50. The trade was a 9.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, President Thomas A. Martin sold 19,121 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.28, for a total transaction of $502,499.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 897,652 shares in the company, valued at $23,590,294.56. This trade represents a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kinder Morgan

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KMI. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the 3rd quarter valued at $28,000. Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 143.6% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 1,352 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 797 shares in the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. lifted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 401.8% during the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 1,430 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145 shares during the period. Activest Wealth Management boosted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 63.0% in the 3rd quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 1,478 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $33,000 after purchasing an additional 571 shares during the last quarter. Finally, HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in Kinder Morgan in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 62.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kinder Morgan Trading Up 1.9 %

The business has a 50 day moving average of $23.98 and a 200 day moving average of $21.57. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.73 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.37, a PEG ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.91. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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 the consensus estimate of $4.05 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. The company’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, research analysts predict that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a $0.2875 dividend. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.14%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.88%.

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.