Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) Shares Up 1% After Analyst Upgrade

Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) shot up 1% during trading on Friday after Barclays raised their price target on the stock from $27.00 to $31.00. Barclays currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Kinder Morgan traded as high as $30.31 and last traded at $30.35. 4,625,084 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 62% from the average session volume of 12,224,675 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.06.

Several other equities research analysts have also commented on KMI. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Wednesday, December 18th. Scotiabank started coverage on Kinder Morgan in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $26.00 price target on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $26.00 price target on Kinder Morgan in a report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective 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. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $27.00.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kinder Morgan

In related news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 19,121 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.28, for a total value of $502,499.88. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 897,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,590,294.56. This trade represents a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, Director C Park Shaper sold 690,142 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the director now directly owns 6,809,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $168,543,985.50. This represents a 9.20 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 745,263 shares of company stock worth $18,578,014. Insiders own 12.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in KMI. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in Kinder Morgan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $25,000. Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the 3rd quarter worth $28,000. Planning Capital Management Corp raised its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 143.6% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 1,352 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 797 shares during the period. Finally, HM Payson & Co. lifted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 401.8% in the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 1,430 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145 shares in the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

The firm has a 50-day moving average of $27.54 and a 200-day moving average of $23.95. The stock has a market cap of $67.42 billion, a PE ratio of 26.62, a PEG ratio of 3.71 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.02). Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 16.76% and a return on equity of 7.87%. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.05 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.25 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Research analysts predict that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.17 EPS for the current year.

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.