Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) Price Target Raised to $29.00 at JPMorgan Chase & Co.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) had its target price lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $28.00 to $29.00 in a research report released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. They currently have a neutral rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

A number of other research firms have also recently weighed in on KMI. Barclays upgraded shares of Kinder Morgan from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock in a research note on Monday. UBS Group boosted their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $26.00 price target on the stock. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.64.

Kinder Morgan Trading Down 0.9 %

Shares of KMI stock opened at $26.76 on Wednesday. Kinder Morgan has a 1 year low of $17.45 and a 1 year high of $31.48. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $27.75 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.65. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The company has a market cap of $59.45 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.87, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 analysts predict that Kinder Morgan will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a dividend of $0.2875 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.30%. Kinder Morgan’s payout ratio is 98.29%.

Insider Activity at Kinder Morgan

In related news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total transaction of $502,380.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 861,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,048,707.32. This represents a 2.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.65, for a total transaction of $2,011,035.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 220,681 shares in the company, valued at $5,881,148.65. This represents a 25.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 111,461 shares of company stock worth $3,012,016. Insiders own 12.64% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kinder Morgan

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 4,591,311 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $101,422,000 after purchasing an additional 29,861 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,291,704 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $50,624,000 after purchasing an additional 71,984 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners lifted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 2,507.9% in the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 16,430 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $450,000 after purchasing an additional 15,800 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 39.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,186,207 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $180,833,000 after purchasing an additional 2,334,273 shares during the period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. lifted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 116.1% in the 4th quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 210,645 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,772,000 after purchasing an additional 113,173 shares during the period. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by 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.