Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) Short Interest Down 13.0% in March

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) was the target of a significant decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 33,910,000 shares, a decline of 13.0% from the February 28th total of 38,970,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 14,430,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.3 days. Approximately 1.8% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.70, for a total value of $498,600.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 843,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,369,160.40. The trade was a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.65, for a total value of $2,011,035.65. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 220,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,881,148.65. This represents a 25.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 129,461 shares of company stock valued at $3,506,116 over the last three months. Insiders own 12.81% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kinder Morgan

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Xponance Inc. increased its stake in Kinder Morgan by 5.2% during the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 303,044 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,303,000 after purchasing an additional 15,114 shares in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 3.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,291,704 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $50,624,000 after acquiring an additional 71,984 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners increased its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 2,507.9% during the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 16,430 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $450,000 after acquiring an additional 15,800 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. lifted its position in Kinder Morgan by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,265,044 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $62,062,000 after acquiring an additional 44,474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC boosted its stake in Kinder Morgan by 39.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,186,207 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $180,833,000 after purchasing an additional 2,334,273 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group upped their price target on Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank started 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. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.64.

Kinder Morgan Stock Down 4.2 %

Shares of Kinder Morgan stock opened at $27.72 on Friday. Kinder Morgan has a 1 year low of $17.61 and a 1 year high of $31.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The company has a 50-day moving average of $27.30 and a 200 day moving average of $26.55. The firm has a market cap of $61.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.69, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.01). Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 17.31% and a return on equity of 8.09%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.2875 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.15%. Kinder Morgan’s dividend 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.