Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) Stock Price Expected to Rise, JPMorgan Chase & Co. Analyst Says

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) had its price target boosted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $28.00 to $29.00 in a research note issued to investors on Wednesday,Benzinga reports. The brokerage currently has a neutral rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays raised shares of Kinder Morgan from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday. Citigroup increased their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective 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. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.64.

Kinder Morgan Trading Down 0.9 %

NYSE:KMI opened at $26.76 on Wednesday. Kinder Morgan has a 52 week low of $17.45 and a 52 week high of $31.48. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $27.75 and a 200 day moving average of $25.65. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market capitalization 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 posted its quarterly 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 return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 17.31%. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given 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 dividend payout ratio is presently 98.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kinder Morgan

In other Kinder Morgan news, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.65, for a total transaction of $2,011,035.65. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 220,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,881,148.65. This trade represents a 25.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on 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. The trade was a 2.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 111,461 shares of company stock valued at $3,012,016 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.64% of the company’s stock.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kinder Morgan

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 202,846,078 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,557,983,000 after buying an additional 1,469,759 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 51,759,844 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,414,813,000 after buying an additional 1,252,609 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter worth about $917,523,000. Northern Trust Corp lifted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 20,942,841 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $573,834,000 after buying an additional 1,608,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 14,711,722 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $403,101,000 after buying an additional 2,116,576 shares in the last quarter. 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.