Kinder Morgan Target of Unusually Large Options Trading (NYSE:KMI)

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Wednesday. Traders acquired 34,571 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 51% compared to the typical daily volume of 22,868 call options.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

NYSE KMI opened at $27.30 on Thursday. 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 has a 12-month low of $16.47 and a 12-month high of $31.48. The company has a market capitalization of $60.64 billion, a PE ratio of 23.33, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.94. The firm’s 50 day moving average is $28.01 and its 200-day moving average is $24.60.

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

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a $0.2875 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.21%. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $26.00 price target on the stock. Truist Financial increased their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Bank of America assumed coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price target on the stock. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kinder Morgan has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.14.

Insider Transactions at Kinder Morgan

In other Kinder Morgan news, Director Amy W. Chronis bought 2,241 shares of Kinder Morgan 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 of the company’s stock, valued at $597,235.55. This trade represents a 10.30 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, 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 transaction of $502,380.00. Following the completion of 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 55,121 shares of company stock valued at $1,497,000. 12.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kinder Morgan

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KMI. Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 39.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,186,207 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $180,833,000 after buying an additional 2,334,273 shares in the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI boosted its position 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 worth $64,879,000 after purchasing an additional 2,194,489 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC boosted its position in Kinder Morgan by 1,849.7% during the third quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,164,637 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $47,817,000 after purchasing an additional 2,053,612 shares during the period. Jennison Associates LLC boosted its position in Kinder Morgan by 847.4% during 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. Finally, Retirement Systems of Alabama boosted its position in Kinder Morgan by 295.2% during the third quarter. Retirement Systems of Alabama now owns 1,683,356 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $37,185,000 after purchasing an additional 1,257,428 shares during the period. 62.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.