Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) Given Consensus Recommendation of “Moderate Buy” by Brokerages

Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) have been assigned an average recommendation of “Moderate Buy” from the fifteen brokerages that are currently covering the company, Marketbeat Ratings reports. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. The average 12-month price target among analysts that have updated their coverage on the stock in the last year is $29.14.

KMI has been the subject of several recent analyst reports. UBS Group lifted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $36.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup boosted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th.

Kinder Morgan Trading Up 0.2 %

NYSE:KMI opened at $26.61 on Monday. Kinder Morgan has a one year low of $16.51 and a one year high of $31.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $27.80 and its 200 day simple moving average is $25.12. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.11 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.74, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.94.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The pipeline company reported $0.32 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, analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan will post 1.23 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.2875 dividend. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.29%.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total value of $502,380.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 861,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,048,707.32. This trade represents a 2.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 54,000 shares of company stock worth $1,493,100. Corporate 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. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $917,523,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $157,804,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership acquired a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $87,729,000. Amundi boosted its stake in Kinder Morgan by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 11,819,777 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $334,381,000 after purchasing an additional 2,650,040 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its stake in Kinder Morgan by 223.9% in the 4th quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,465,980 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $94,968,000 after purchasing an additional 2,395,930 shares in the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.