Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) Hits New 12-Month High – Time to Buy?

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) reached a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $25.79 and last traded at $25.73, with a volume of 1377333 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $24.71.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KMI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $26.00 price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “conviction-buy” rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $25.09.

Kinder Morgan Trading Up 7.0 %

The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The firm has a market cap of $58.74 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.68, a P/E/G ratio of 2.99 and a beta of 0.91. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $22.97 and its 200-day moving average is $21.04.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.05 billion. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 16.76%. Kinder Morgan’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.25 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.19 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.2875 per share. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.35%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.88%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director C Park Shaper sold 690,142 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total value of $17,081,014.50. Following the sale, the director now directly owns 6,809,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $168,543,985.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In related news, VP Dax Sanders sold 1,729 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total transaction of $36,309.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 307,409 shares in the company, valued at $6,455,589. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, Director C Park Shaper sold 690,142 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total transaction of $17,081,014.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,809,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $168,543,985.50. This trade represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Company insiders own 12.64% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Fidelis Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the 1st quarter worth about $62,000. Mediolanum International Funds Ltd bought a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the first quarter worth about $798,000. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. raised its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 3.3% during the first quarter. Geneos Wealth Management Inc. now owns 184,978 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,392,000 after buying an additional 5,966 shares during the last quarter. Disciplined Equity Management Inc. purchased a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the 1st quarter worth $1,050,000. Finally, Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP boosted its stake in Kinder Morgan by 45.9% during the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 9,959,947 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $182,665,000 after buying an additional 3,135,457 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors 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.