Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) Receives Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from Analysts

Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) have been given a consensus recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by the thirteen brokerages that are covering the firm, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold recommendation, five have given a buy recommendation and one has assigned a strong buy recommendation to the company. The average 12-month target price among analysts that have covered the stock in the last year is $25.67.

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Bank of America started coverage on Kinder Morgan in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $22.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, October 22nd. UBS Group raised their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th.

Kinder Morgan Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE KMI opened at $27.42 on Wednesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.92 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.05, a PEG ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.95. Kinder Morgan has a one year low of $16.47 and a one year high of $28.81. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $25.41 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $22.26. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.02). Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 16.76%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.05 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.25 EPS. Kinder Morgan’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Kinder Morgan will post 1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.2875 dividend. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.19%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Kinder Morgan’s payout ratio is presently 100.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director C Park Shaper sold 690,142 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total transaction of $17,081,014.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,809,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $168,543,985.50. The trade was a 9.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Amy W. Chronis bought 2,241 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $24.89 per share, with a total value of $55,778.49. Following the purchase, the director now directly 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. 12.81% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kinder Morgan

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KMI. Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in Kinder Morgan by 0.5% during the third quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 90,560 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,000,000 after buying an additional 414 shares during the last quarter. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC raised its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 1.5% in the 3rd quarter. SignalPoint Asset Management LLC now owns 30,059 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $655,000 after purchasing an additional 447 shares during the last quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. boosted its stake in Kinder Morgan by 0.3% in the 3rd quarter. Moors & Cabot Inc. now owns 144,529 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,193,000 after purchasing an additional 468 shares in the last quarter. Trust Co. of Oklahoma grew its position in Kinder Morgan by 1.5% during the 3rd quarter. Trust Co. of Oklahoma now owns 33,586 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $742,000 after purchasing an additional 486 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. increased its stake in Kinder Morgan by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle West Asset Management Inc. now owns 96,150 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,124,000 after purchasing an additional 500 shares in the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is owned by 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.