Critical Review: Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) and Imperial Petroleum (NASDAQ:IMPP)

Imperial Petroleum (NASDAQ:IMPP) and Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) are both energy companies, but which is the superior stock? We will compare the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, valuation, risk, analyst recommendations, earnings, dividends and institutional ownership.

Institutional & Insider Ownership

94.4% of Imperial Petroleum shares are held by institutional investors. Comparatively, 62.5% of Kinder Morgan shares are held by institutional investors. 1.5% of Imperial Petroleum shares are held by insiders. Comparatively, 12.7% of Kinder Morgan shares are held by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, endowments and hedge funds believe a company will outperform the market over the long term.

Profitability

This table compares Imperial Petroleum and Kinder Morgan’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Imperial Petroleum	36.76%	16.92%	15.92%
Kinder Morgan	19.31%	10.46%	4.65%

Earnings and Valuation

This table compares Imperial Petroleum and Kinder Morgan”s revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Imperial Petroleum	$161.00 million	1.49	$49.98 million	$1.91	2.75
Kinder Morgan	$17.96 billion	4.13	$3.06 billion	$1.56	21.35

Kinder Morgan has higher revenue and earnings than Imperial Petroleum. Imperial Petroleum is trading at a lower price-to-earnings ratio than Kinder Morgan, indicating that it is currently the more affordable of the two stocks.

Volatility & Risk

Imperial Petroleum has a beta of 1.27, suggesting that its share price is 27% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Kinder Morgan has a beta of 0.59, suggesting that its share price is 41% less volatile than the S&P 500.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a summary of current recommendations for Imperial Petroleum and Kinder Morgan, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Imperial Petroleum	0	1	1	0	2.50
Kinder Morgan	0	11	11	0	2.50

Imperial Petroleum currently has a consensus price target of $9.00, suggesting a potential upside of 71.43%. Kinder Morgan has a consensus price target of $35.47, suggesting a potential upside of 6.51%. Given Imperial Petroleum’s higher probable upside, research analysts clearly believe Imperial Petroleum is more favorable than Kinder Morgan.

Summary

Imperial Petroleum beats Kinder Morgan on 7 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Imperial Petroleum

Imperial Petroleum Inc. provides international seaborne transportation services to oil producers, refineries, and commodities traders. It carries refined petroleum products, such as gasoline, diesel, fuel oil, and jet fuel, as well as edible oils and chemicals, crude oils, iron ore, coal and grains, and minor bulks, such as bauxite, phosphate, and fertilizers. As of April 1, 2024, the company owned and operated a fleet of six medium range refined petroleum product tankers; one Aframax tanker; two suezmax tankers; and two handysize drybulk carriers with a total capacity of 791,000 deadweight tons. The company was incorporated in 2021 and is based in Athens, Greece.

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. The Products Pipelines segment owns and operates refined petroleum products, and crude oil and condensate pipelines; and associated product terminals and petroleum pipeline transmix facilities. The Terminals segment owns and/or operates liquids and bulk terminals that stores and handles various commodities, including gasoline, diesel fuel, renewable fuel and feedstocks, chemicals, ethanol, metals, and petroleum coke; and owns tankers. The CO2 segment produces, transports, and markets CO2 to recovery and production crude oil from mature oil fields; owns interests in/or operates oil fields and gasoline processing plants; and operates a crude oil pipeline system in West Texas, as well as owns and operates RNG and LNG facilities. It owns and operates approximately 82,000 miles of pipelines and 139 terminals. The company was formerly known as Kinder Morgan Holdco LLC and changed its name to Kinder Morgan, Inc. in February 2011. Kinder Morgan, Inc. was incorporated in 2006 and is headquartered in Houston, Texas.