Morgan Stanley Forecasts Strong Price Appreciation for Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) Stock

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) had its target price raised by equities researchers at Morgan Stanley from $24.00 to $36.00 in a research report issued on Thursday. Morgan Stanley’s price target suggests a potential upside of 19.08% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other brokerages have also issued reports on KMI. Barclays increased their price target on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America initiated coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price objective on the stock. Finally, Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $26.00 target price for the company. Eight investment 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. According to MarketBeat.com, Kinder Morgan currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $28.92.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KMI opened at $30.23 on Thursday. The stock has a market cap of $67.16 billion, a P/E ratio of 25.84, a P/E/G ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.97 and its 200 day simple moving average is $24.37. Kinder Morgan has a fifty-two week low of $16.47 and a fifty-two week high of $31.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The pipeline company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.01). Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 8.10% and a net margin of 17.31%. Equities analysts expect that Kinder Morgan will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kinder Morgan

In other Kinder Morgan news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was 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 $24,048,707.32. This trade represents a 2.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, Director Amy W. Chronis purchased 2,241 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were bought at an average price of $24.89 per share, with a total value of $55,778.49. Following the purchase, the director now owns 23,995 shares in the company, valued at $597,235.55. This represents a 10.30 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Insiders have sold 55,121 shares of company stock worth $1,497,000 over the last 90 days. 12.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kinder Morgan

A number of large investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Duquesne Family Office LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 74.0% during the 2nd quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC now owns 6,753,165 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $134,185,000 after buying an additional 2,872,665 shares during the period. Barclays PLC lifted its position in Kinder Morgan by 39.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,186,207 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $180,833,000 after acquiring an additional 2,334,273 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 295.5% during 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 acquiring an additional 2,194,489 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 1,849.7% in the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,164,637 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $47,817,000 after purchasing an additional 2,053,612 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC increased its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 847.4% in the fourth quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,475,187 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $40,420,000 after purchasing an additional 1,319,474 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.52% of the company’s stock.

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.