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

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)’s share price was 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. Approximately 4,772,515 shares traded hands during trading, a decline of 70% from the average daily volume of 16,059,081 shares. The stock had previously closed at $27.30.

Several other brokerages have also weighed in on KMI. Barclays lifted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on Kinder Morgan in a report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $26.00 target price for the company. Mizuho lifted their target price on Kinder Morgan from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price target on Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kinder Morgan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kinder Morgan news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total value of $502,380.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 861,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,048,707.32. The trade was a 2.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Amy W. Chronis acquired 2,241 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $24.89 per share, with a total value of $55,778.49. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $597,235.55. The trade was a 10.30 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders sold 55,121 shares of company stock worth $1,497,000 in the last quarter. 12.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kinder Morgan

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CX Institutional increased its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 15,661 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $429,000 after buying an additional 354 shares during the period. Sunflower Bank N.A. grew its stake in Kinder Morgan by 3.6% in the fourth quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 10,503 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the period. Ignite Planners LLC grew its stake in Kinder Morgan by 3.9% in the fourth quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 9,992 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC grew its stake in Kinder Morgan by 8.0% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 5,182 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the period. Finally, Bristlecone Advisors LLC grew its stake in Kinder Morgan by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 15,794 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.52% of the company’s stock.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $61.06 billion, a PE ratio of 23.49, a PEG ratio of 3.10 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a 50 day moving average of $27.99 and a two-hundred day moving average of $24.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last issued its quarterly 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 return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 17.31%. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.28 earnings per share for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

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 4.18%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Kinder Morgan’s payout ratio is currently 98.29%.

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.