Traders Purchase Large Volume of Kinder Morgan Put Options (NYSE:KMI)

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) was the target of unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock investors purchased 32,488 put options on the company. This is an increase of 52% compared to the typical volume of 21,350 put options.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, CFO David Patrick Michels sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 139,428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,182,840. This trade represents a 12.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director William A. Smith purchased 3,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, February 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $29.75 per share, with a total value of $89,250.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 31,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $924,838.25. The trade was a 10.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 46,498 shares of company stock worth $1,382,115 in the last quarter. 12.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kinder Morgan

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the business. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,132,125,000. AQR Capital Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 431.9% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,569,082 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $185,971,000 after buying an additional 5,333,986 shares during the period. Merewether Investment Management LP acquired a new position in Kinder Morgan during the second quarter worth $138,477,000. Zimmer Partners LP boosted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 177.8% during the 3rd quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 6,070,100 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $171,845,000 after purchasing an additional 3,885,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 59 North Capital Management LP lifted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 54.5% in the second quarter. 59 North Capital Management LP now owns 10,597,380 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $311,563,000 after purchasing an additional 3,739,398 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Friday, February 20th. Freedom Capital upgraded Kinder Morgan from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 target price on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kinder Morgan has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $33.08.

Kinder Morgan Stock Down 1.4%

NYSE KMI traded down $0.48 during trading on Thursday, reaching $33.44. 10,530,277 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,557,026. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $29.91 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.04. The stock has a market cap of $74.40 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.41, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.74 and a beta of 0.68. Kinder Morgan has a 1 year low of $23.94 and a 1 year high of $34.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.64.

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

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were paid a $0.2925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Kinder Morgan’s payout ratio is currently 85.40%.

Kinder Morgan Company Profile

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.