Barclays Upgrades Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) to “Overweight”

Barclays upgraded shares of Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) from an equal weight rating to an overweight rating in a research note published on Monday morning, MarketBeat.com reports. The brokerage currently has $31.00 target price on the pipeline company’s stock.

KMI has been the subject of several other reports. Mizuho upped 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. Scotiabank started coverage on 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 upped 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. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kinder Morgan currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.64.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

Shares of Kinder Morgan stock opened at $26.76 on Monday. The company has a market cap of $59.45 billion, a PE ratio of 22.87, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The business has a 50 day moving average price of $27.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.65. Kinder Morgan has a 52 week low of $17.45 and a 52 week high of $31.48.

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%. Equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.2875 dividend. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.30%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Kinder Morgan’s payout ratio is currently 98.29%.

Insider Transactions at Kinder Morgan

In other news, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.65, for a total value of $2,011,035.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 220,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,881,148.65. This trade represents a 25.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $23,369,160.40. The trade was a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 111,461 shares of company stock valued at $3,012,016 over the last three months. Company insiders own 12.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kinder Morgan

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KMI. Stephens Inc. AR raised its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 3.0% in the third quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 144,268 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,187,000 after buying an additional 4,253 shares in the last quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC raised its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 9.6% in the third quarter. Gladstone Institutional Advisory LLC now owns 15,281 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $338,000 after buying an additional 1,337 shares in the last quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 24.2% in the third quarter. Farther Finance Advisors LLC now owns 25,849 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $571,000 after buying an additional 5,043 shares in the last quarter. Pure Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan in the third quarter worth $301,000. Finally, Janney Montgomery Scott LLC raised its position in Kinder Morgan by 1.1% during the third quarter. Janney Montgomery Scott LLC now owns 1,531,624 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $33,834,000 after purchasing an additional 17,343 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.52% of the company’s stock.

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.