Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) Upgraded at Morgan Stanley

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) was upgraded by analysts at Morgan Stanley from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating in a research report issued on Monday, Marketbeat reports. The firm currently has a $24.00 price target on the pipeline company’s stock. Morgan Stanley’s price objective indicates a potential upside of 13.53% from the company’s previous close.

Other analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, September 11th. Scotiabank upped their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Wednesday, July 17th. Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Kinder Morgan from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 30th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Kinder Morgan from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Finally, Tudor Pickering raised Kinder Morgan to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kinder Morgan presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $22.55.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KMI opened at $21.14 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The company has a market capitalization of $46.92 billion, a PE ratio of 19.22, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.93. The stock’s 50 day moving average price is $21.01 and its 200-day moving average price is $19.60. Kinder Morgan has a twelve month low of $15.89 and a twelve month high of $21.86.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.26 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.57 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.13 billion. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 15.93% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The firm’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.24 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Dax Sanders sold 1,729 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total value of $36,309.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 307,409 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,455,589. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. In other Kinder Morgan news, VP Dax Sanders sold 1,729 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total transaction of $36,309.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 307,409 shares in the company, valued at $6,455,589. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Sital K. Mody sold 21,413 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.25, for a total transaction of $455,026.25. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $534,841.25. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 148,311 shares of company stock worth $3,121,891 in the last three months. 12.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kinder Morgan

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMI. True Wealth Design LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 3,655.3% during the 4th quarter. True Wealth Design LLC now owns 1,427 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $25,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the first quarter worth approximately $30,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $30,000. OFI Invest Asset Management purchased a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan in the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the 1st quarter valued at $31,000. Institutional investors own 62.52% of the company’s stock.

About Kinder Morgan

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.