Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) Reaches New 12-Month High Following Dividend Announcement

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)’s share price reached a new 52-week high on Wednesday following a dividend announcement from the company. The stock traded as high as $31.48 and last traded at $31.20, with a volume of 22775908 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $30.31.

The newly announced dividend which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a $0.2875 dividend. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.88%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Bank of America initiated coverage on Kinder Morgan in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Thursday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kinder Morgan has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.92.

Kinder Morgan Stock Down 0.9 %

The company has a market cap of $67.77 billion, a P/E ratio of 26.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.18 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $27.90 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $24.32.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.01). Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 16.76%. On average, research analysts expect that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kinder Morgan news, Director Amy W. Chronis acquired 2,241 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was purchased at an average price of $24.89 per share, for a total transaction of $55,778.49. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 23,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $597,235.55. This trade represents a 10.30 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction 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 sale, the president now owns 861,652 shares in the company, valued at $24,048,707.32. The trade was a 2.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 55,121 shares of company stock valued at $1,497,000. Corporate insiders own 12.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kinder Morgan

Several large investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the second quarter worth about $30,000. 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.