Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) Sets New 52-Week High Following Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Monday after Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on the stock from $30.00 to $32.00. Royal Bank Of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the stock. Kinder Morgan traded as high as $33.75 and last traded at $33.7370, with a volume of 2330734 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $33.27.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Morgan Stanley reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Friday, January 30th. Scotiabank upped their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Mizuho reduced their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kinder Morgan currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.54.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kinder Morgan

In other Kinder Morgan news, VP Anthony B. Ashley sold 8,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total value of $255,600.00. Following the sale, the vice president owned 100,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,199,664.70. This represents a 7.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, Director William A. Smith acquired 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $29.75 per share, with a total value of $89,250.00. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 31,087 shares in the company, valued at approximately $924,838.25. This represents a 10.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. In the last three months, insiders have sold 46,498 shares of company stock worth $1,382,115. 12.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kinder Morgan

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,132,125,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 431.9% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,569,082 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $185,971,000 after acquiring an additional 5,333,986 shares during the last quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the 2nd quarter worth $138,477,000. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 177.8% during the third quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 6,070,100 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $171,845,000 after purchasing an additional 3,885,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, 59 North Capital Management LP boosted its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 54.5% during the second quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP now owns 10,597,380 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $311,563,000 after purchasing an additional 3,739,398 shares during the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

The firm has a market cap of $75.21 billion, a PE ratio of 24.66, a P/E/G ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.70. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $29.50 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.90. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.50.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last released 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. The firm had revenue of $4.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.33 billion. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 18.04% and a return on equity of 9.02%. Kinder Morgan’s revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. Research analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a $0.2925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.40%.

About Kinder Morgan

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.