Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) Upgraded to Hold at Freedom Capital

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) was upgraded by stock analysts at Freedom Capital from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note issued on Wednesday,Zacks.com reports.

KMI has been the subject of several other reports. TD Cowen boosted their price target on Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Morgan Stanley restated a “buy” rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Friday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price target on Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Finally, Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.38.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KMI opened at $30.50 on Wednesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The firm has a market cap of $67.85 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.69. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $27.57 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.29. Kinder Morgan has a one year low of $23.94 and a one year high of $30.57.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.02. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 18.04% and a return on equity of 9.02%. The company had revenue of $4.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. Kinder Morgan’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan will post 1.25 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP John W. Schlosser sold 6,166 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.49, for a total transaction of $169,503.34. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 201,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,531,097.96. This trade represents a 2.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO David Patrick Michels sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 139,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,182,840. This trade represents a 12.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 38,498 shares of company stock worth $1,107,462. Insiders own 12.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kinder Morgan

A number of institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMI. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the second quarter worth $1,162,802,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its position in Kinder Morgan by 431.9% during the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,569,082 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $185,971,000 after purchasing an additional 5,333,986 shares during the last quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP acquired a new position in Kinder Morgan during the 2nd quarter worth about $138,477,000. Zimmer Partners LP grew its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 177.8% in the 3rd quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 6,070,100 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $171,845,000 after buying an additional 3,885,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 59 North Capital Management LP increased its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 54.5% in the second quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP now owns 10,597,380 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $311,563,000 after buying an additional 3,739,398 shares during the period. 62.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kinder Morgan Company Profile

Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI) is a large energy infrastructure company that owns and operates an extensive network of pipelines and terminals across North America. Its core activities center on the transportation, storage and handling of energy products, including natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil, refined petroleum products and carbon dioxide. The company’s assets include long-haul and gathering pipelines, storage facilities, and multi-modal terminals that serve producers, refiners, utilities and industrial customers.

Kinder Morgan’s operations deliver midstream services such as pipeline transportation, terminaling, storage and related logistics and maintenance.