Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) Trading 1% Higher – Time to Buy?

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) shares shot up 1% during trading on Friday . The stock traded as high as $27.19 and last traded at $27.05. 3,947,258 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 75% from the average session volume of 15,811,940 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.78.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on KMI shares. Bank of America began coverage on Kinder Morgan in a report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price target for the company. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Barclays upped their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.14.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.49. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $24.88. The stock has a market cap of $60.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.13, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.94.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.01). Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 17.31% and a return on equity of 8.09%. As a group, equities research analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.28 EPS for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a $0.2875 dividend. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Kinder Morgan’s payout ratio is presently 98.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kinder Morgan

In related news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.70, for a total value of $498,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 843,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,369,160.40. The trade was a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 54,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,493,100 in the last three months. 12.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kinder Morgan

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KMI. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter valued at $157,804,000. Amundi grew its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 28.9% during the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 11,819,777 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $334,381,000 after acquiring an additional 2,650,040 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 39.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,186,207 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $180,833,000 after acquiring an additional 2,334,273 shares during the last quarter. Fisher Funds Management LTD acquired a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter worth $62,534,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 295.5% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,937,055 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $64,879,000 after purchasing an additional 2,194,489 shares during the period. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kinder Morgan Company Profile

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.