Short Interest in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) Drops By 20.6%

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) was the target of a large decrease in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 37,200,000 shares, a decrease of 20.6% from the January 31st total of 46,880,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 14,240,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days. Currently, 1.9% of the company's stock are short sold.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have issued reports on KMI. Scotiabank began coverage on Kinder Morgan in a report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a "sector perform" rating and a $26.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on 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 lifted their price target on Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group increased their price objective 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, JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $29.64.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

KMI stock traded down $0.46 on Thursday, hitting $26.27. The company had a trading volume of 13,528,412 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,644,533. The stock has a market cap of $58.36 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.45, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. Kinder Morgan has a 12-month low of $17.45 and a 12-month high of $31.48. The stock's 50-day simple moving average is $27.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.65.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, equities research analysts expect that Kinder Morgan will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders 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 4.38%. Kinder Morgan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 98.29%.

Insider Activity

In other Kinder Morgan news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.70, for a total transaction of $498,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 843,652 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,369,160.40. This trade represents a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.65, for a total value of $2,011,035.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 220,681 shares in the company, valued at $5,881,148.65. The trade was a 25.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 111,461 shares of company stock valued at $3,012,016. Insiders own 12.64% of the company's stock.

Institutional Trading of Kinder Morgan

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KMI. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. raised its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 0.7% in the third 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 in the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted 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 valued at $50,624,000 after purchasing an additional 71,984 shares during the period. Golden State Equity Partners boosted its position in 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 in the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 39.9% during the 3rd 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 period. Finally, UMB Bank n.a. increased its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 116.1% in the fourth quarter. UMB Bank n.a. now owns 210,645 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $5,772,000 after buying an additional 113,173 shares in the last quarter. 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.