Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) Receives Average Rating of “Moderate Buy” from Brokerages

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) has been assigned an average rating of “Moderate Buy” from the fourteen ratings firms that are presently covering the stock, MarketBeat.com reports. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. The average twelve-month target price among brokerages that have issued ratings on the stock in the last year is $22.55.

A number of brokerages have recently weighed in on KMI. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Thursday, July 25th. Barclays upped their target price on Kinder Morgan from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price target on Kinder Morgan from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, July 30th.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Dax Sanders sold 1,729 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total transaction of $36,309.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 307,409 shares in the company, valued at $6,455,589. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. In related news, VP Sital K. Mody sold 21,413 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.25, for a total value of $455,026.25. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 25,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $534,841.25. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP Dax Sanders sold 1,729 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total transaction of $36,309.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 307,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,455,589. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 148,311 shares of company stock valued at $3,121,891. Insiders own 12.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kinder Morgan

A number of large investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 15.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,888,911 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,665,963,000 after purchasing an additional 27,254,172 shares during the last quarter. Confluence Investment Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the 1st quarter worth $87,627,000. Castle Hook Partners LP boosted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 108.2% in the 1st quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 7,799,826 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $143,049,000 after buying an additional 4,053,793 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP grew its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 45.9% in the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 9,959,947 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $182,665,000 after acquiring an additional 3,135,457 shares during the period. Finally, Duquesne Family Office LLC increased its position in Kinder Morgan by 74.0% during the second quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC now owns 6,753,165 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $134,185,000 after acquiring an additional 2,872,665 shares during the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kinder Morgan Stock Up 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:KMI opened at $22.21 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $21.24 and its 200 day moving average is $19.80. The company has a market cap of $49.29 billion, a PE ratio of 20.19, a P/E/G ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90, a current ratio of 0.37 and a quick ratio of 0.28. Kinder Morgan has a 1 year low of $15.89 and a 1 year high of $22.33.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.26 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.57 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.13 billion. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 15.93% and a return on equity of 7.89%. Kinder Morgan’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm posted $0.24 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.2875 per share. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a yield of 5.18%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 104.55%.

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.