Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) Stock Price Up 0% – Should You Buy?

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) shares shot up 0% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $26.48 and last traded at $26.29. 2,970,203 shares changed hands during trading, a decline of 81% from the average session volume of 15,733,285 shares. The stock had previously closed at $26.28.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently commented on KMI. Scotiabank began coverage on 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. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Barclays boosted their target price on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 16th. Citigroup boosted their target price on Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.14.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.03 billion, a PE ratio of 22.70, a P/E/G ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $27.85 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $25.05.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last posted 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 8.09%. Sell-side analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.23 earnings per share for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.2875 per share. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kinder Morgan

In related news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total value of $502,380.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 861,652 shares in the company, valued at $24,048,707.32. This represents a 2.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 54,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,493,100 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kinder Morgan

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. grew its position in shares of 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 valued at $101,422,000 after purchasing an additional 29,861 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC grew its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 3.5% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 22,813 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 776 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 3.2% in 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 grew its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 2,507.9% in the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 16,430 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $450,000 after purchasing an additional 15,800 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its position 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 purchasing an additional 2,334,273 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds 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.