Short Interest in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) Drops By 20.6%

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) was the recipient of a large drop in short interest during the month of February. As of February 15th, there was short interest totalling 37,200,000 shares, a drop of 20.6% from the January 31st total of 46,880,000 shares. Currently, 1.9% of the shares of the stock are sold short. Based on an average daily volume of 14,240,000 shares, the short-interest ratio is currently 2.6 days.

Kinder Morgan Stock Down 0.4 %

KMI traded down $0.11 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $27.04. The company had a trading volume of 16,429,390 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,778,221. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.39. Kinder Morgan has a 12 month low of $17.45 and a 12 month high of $31.48. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $27.76 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.64. The company has a market cap of $60.07 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.11, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.01). Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 17.31% and a return on equity of 8.09%. Equities analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan will post 1.25 EPS for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a $0.2875 dividend. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 98.29%.

Insider Activity at Kinder Morgan

In other Kinder Morgan news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.34, for a total value of $492,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 879,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,049,685.68. The trade was a 2.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.65, for a total transaction of $2,011,035.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 220,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,881,148.65. This represents a 25.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 129,461 shares of company stock valued at $3,504,136 in the last ninety days. Insiders own 12.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kinder Morgan

A number of institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KMI. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Institutional investors own 62.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have weighed in on KMI shares. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho lifted their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank started coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $26.00 price target for the company. Finally, Barclays upgraded shares of Kinder Morgan from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.21.

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.