Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) Sets New 52-Week High on Analyst Upgrade

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report)'s stock price reached a new 52-week high on Monday after UBS Group raised their price target on the stock from $30.00 to $33.00. UBS Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Kinder Morgan traded as high as $27.68 and last traded at $27.63, with a volume of 2369246 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $27.27.

Several other equities research analysts have also recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Kinder Morgan from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a "buy" rating and a $27.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $26.00 price target on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Friday, October 18th. Argus raised Kinder Morgan from a "hold" rating to a "buy" rating and set a $24.00 target price for the company in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group reiterated a "conviction-buy" rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Friday, October 18th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $25.36.

Insider Transactions at Kinder Morgan

In other Kinder Morgan news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 19,121 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.28, for a total transaction of $502,499.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 897,652 shares in the company, valued at $23,590,294.56. This trade represents a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director C Park Shaper sold 690,142 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total value of $17,081,014.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now owns 6,809,858 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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. Company insiders own 12.64% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kinder Morgan

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in Kinder Morgan by 3.5% in the 3rd quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 22,813 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 776 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its stake in Kinder Morgan by 0.7% during the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 4,591,311 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $101,422,000 after buying an additional 29,861 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Kinder Morgan by 3.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,291,704 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $50,624,000 after buying an additional 71,984 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its stake in Kinder Morgan by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 393,351 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $8,689,000 after acquiring an additional 25,406 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 1,512.7% in the 3rd quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 88,583 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,956,000 after acquiring an additional 83,090 shares in the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kinder Morgan Trading Up 1.9 %

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.46. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $23.84 and a 200-day moving average price of $21.50. The stock has a market cap of $61.73 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.92, a P/E/G ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.91.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.02). Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 16.76%. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. Kinder Morgan's quarterly revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.2875 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.14%. Kinder Morgan's payout ratio is 100.88%.

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.