Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) Short Interest Up 12.9% in October

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) was the recipient of a large growth in short interest in the month of October. As of October 15th, there was short interest totalling 45,060,000 shares, a growth of 12.9% from the September 30th total of 39,910,000 shares. Based on an average daily trading volume, of 13,160,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 3.4 days. Currently, 2.3% of the shares of the company are short sold.

Kinder Morgan Trading Down 1.3 %

Shares of NYSE:KMI traded down $0.33 during trading on Thursday, reaching $24.51. 12,803,563 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,799,129. The firm has a market capitalization of $54.40 billion, a PE ratio of 22.58, a P/E/G ratio of 3.06 and a beta of 0.93. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $22.72 and its 200-day simple moving average is $20.84. Kinder Morgan has a 12-month low of $16.06 and a 12-month high of $25.43. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.28.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.02). The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.05 billion. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 16.76% and a return on equity of 7.87%. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.25 earnings per share. On average, research analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.2875 per share. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.69%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Kinder Morgan’s payout ratio is 104.55%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have issued reports on KMI shares. Scotiabank increased their price target on Kinder Morgan from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. UBS Group increased their price target on Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Argus raised shares of Kinder Morgan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price objective for the company in a report on Friday, July 19th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Bank of America started coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price target for the company. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $24.91.

Insider Activity

In other news, Director C Park Shaper sold 690,142 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total value of $17,081,014.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,809,858 shares in the company, valued at $168,543,985.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. In other news, Director C Park Shaper sold 690,142 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total value of $17,081,014.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,809,858 shares in the company, valued at $168,543,985.50. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP Dax Sanders sold 1,729 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total value of $36,309.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now owns 307,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,455,589. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders own 12.64% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kinder Morgan

Several institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. grew its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 30.8% in the first quarter. Farmers & Merchants Investments Inc. now owns 18,262 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $335,000 after purchasing an additional 4,300 shares during the last quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 45.7% in the first quarter. MV Capital Management Inc. now owns 2,083 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $38,000 after purchasing an additional 653 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. grew its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 0.5% in the first quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Holdings Inc. now owns 5,011,296 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $91,907,000 after purchasing an additional 24,543 shares during the last quarter. Svenska Handelsbanken AB publ purchased a new position in Kinder Morgan in the first quarter worth $16,144,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Kinder Morgan in the first quarter worth $31,000. 62.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

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.