Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) Stock Price Expected to Rise, Morgan Stanley Analyst Says

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) had its target price upped by Morgan Stanley from $24.00 to $36.00 in a research report sent to investors on Thursday morning.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on KMI. UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America started coverage on Kinder Morgan in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $26.00 target price on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kinder Morgan has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.92.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

Kinder Morgan stock opened at $30.50 on Thursday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.46. Kinder Morgan has a 52 week low of $16.47 and a 52 week high of $31.48. The stock has a market capitalization 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 stock has a fifty day moving average of $27.90 and a 200-day moving average of $24.32.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The pipeline company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, sell-side analysts expect that Kinder Morgan will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.2875 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.77%. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 19,121 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.28, for a total transaction of $502,499.88. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 897,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,590,294.56. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Amy W. Chronis purchased 2,241 shares of the business’s 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 acquisition, the director now owns 23,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $597,235.55. This represents a 10.30 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 55,121 shares of company stock valued at $1,497,000 over the last ninety days. 12.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kinder Morgan

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Kinder Morgan during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Modus Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 143.6% in the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 1,352 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 797 shares during the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.