Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) Shares Up 1.3% – Here’s Why

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)’s share price shot up 1.3% during mid-day trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $26.93 and last traded at $26.90. 2,908,320 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 15,686,730 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.56.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have issued reports on KMI. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $26.00 target price for the company. The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.14.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

The firm’s 50-day moving average is $27.80 and its 200-day moving average is $25.10. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The company has a market capitalization of $59.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.74, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.94.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last announced 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%. Analysts predict that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.2875 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.32%. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.29%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kinder Morgan news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.70, for a total value of $498,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 843,652 shares in the company, valued at $23,369,160.40. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 54,000 shares of company stock worth $1,493,100 over the last three months. 12.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kinder Morgan

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 0.7% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 4,591,311 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $101,422,000 after purchasing an additional 29,861 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 3.5% in the third 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 during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 3.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,291,704 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $50,624,000 after buying an additional 71,984 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners lifted its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 2,507.9% in the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 16,430 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $450,000 after buying an additional 15,800 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 39.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,186,207 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $180,833,000 after buying an additional 2,334,273 shares in the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

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.