Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) have received an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the thirteen ratings firms that are currently covering the stock, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Seven equities 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 price objective among analysts that have issued a report on the stock in the last year is $26.25.

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Morgan Stanley set a $26.00 target price on Kinder Morgan in a report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays boosted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, December 17th. UBS Group upped their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Finally, 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.

Kinder Morgan Stock Up 2.6 %

Shares of Kinder Morgan stock opened at $28.11 on Friday. Kinder Morgan has a 1-year low of $16.47 and a 1-year high of $28.81. The company has a market capitalization of $62.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.66, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.94. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $26.89 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $23.39. 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 posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.05 billion. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 16.76%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the company earned $0.25 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan will post 1.18 EPS for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.2875 dividend. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.09%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, October 31st. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio is 100.88%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kinder Morgan

In other Kinder Morgan news, Director Amy W. Chronis bought 2,241 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $24.89 per share, with a total value of $55,778.49. Following the purchase, the director now directly owns 23,995 shares in the company, valued at $597,235.55. The trade was a 10.30 % increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director C Park Shaper sold 690,142 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total transaction of $17,081,014.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 6,809,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $168,543,985.50. This trade represents a 9.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 745,263 shares of company stock valued at $18,578,014 in the last three months. 12.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in Kinder Morgan in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its stake 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 valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 797 shares in the last quarter. HM Payson & Co. increased its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 401.8% in the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 1,430 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $32,000 after buying an additional 1,145 shares during the last quarter. Activest Wealth Management raised its position in Kinder Morgan by 63.0% during the third quarter. Activest Wealth Management now owns 1,478 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $33,000 after acquiring an additional 571 shares in the last quarter. Finally, HWG Holdings LP acquired a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the second quarter valued at approximately $30,000. 62.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other 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.