Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) Upgraded by Freedom Capital to Hold Rating

Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) from a strong sell rating to a hold rating in a research report report published on Wednesday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Several other analysts have also recently issued reports on KMI. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Friday, December 12th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Morgan Stanley reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Friday. Finally, TD Cowen boosted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.38.

Kinder Morgan Trading Up 0.9%

Shares of KMI opened at $30.50 on Wednesday. Kinder Morgan has a one year low of $23.94 and a one year high of $30.57. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $27.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.29. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.64. The company has a market capitalization of $67.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.26, a P/E/G ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.69.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.33 billion. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 18.04%.Kinder Morgan’s revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the previous year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. Sell-side analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan will post 1.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be issued a dividend of $0.2925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio is 85.40%.

Insider Activity at Kinder Morgan

In other Kinder Morgan news, VP John W. Schlosser sold 6,166 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.49, for a total value of $169,503.34. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 201,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,531,097.96. This trade represents a 2.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO David Patrick Michels sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 139,428 shares in the company, valued at $4,182,840. The trade was a 12.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last three months, insiders sold 38,498 shares of company stock worth $1,107,462. Company insiders own 12.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kinder Morgan

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of KMI. LFA Lugano Financial Advisors SA bought a new position in Kinder Morgan in the 2nd quarter worth about $26,000. Board of the Pension Protection Fund acquired a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter worth approximately $27,000. Dorato Capital Management bought a new position in Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Strategic Advocates LLC acquired a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $32,000. Finally, Torren Management LLC bought a new stake in Kinder Morgan during the 4th quarter valued at $32,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.52% of the company’s stock.

About Kinder Morgan

Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI) is a large energy infrastructure company that owns and operates an extensive network of pipelines and terminals across North America. Its core activities center on the transportation, storage and handling of energy products, including natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil, refined petroleum products and carbon dioxide. The company’s assets include long-haul and gathering pipelines, storage facilities, and multi-modal terminals that serve producers, refiners, utilities and industrial customers.

Kinder Morgan’s operations deliver midstream services such as pipeline transportation, terminaling, storage and related logistics and maintenance.