JPMorgan Chase & Co. Issues Positive Forecast for Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) Stock Price

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) had its price target lifted by JPMorgan Chase & Co. from $29.00 to $30.00 in a research report report published on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm currently has a neutral rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

A number of other brokerages have also recently issued reports on KMI. Barclays raised shares of Kinder Morgan from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Citigroup lifted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Monday. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.79.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

KMI stock opened at $27.25 on Tuesday. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.54 billion, a PE ratio of 23.29, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $27.00 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.15. Kinder Morgan has a fifty-two week low of $18.65 and a fifty-two week high of $31.48.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.34. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.02 billion. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 17.31%. Analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan will post 1.25 EPS for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.2925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This is an increase from Kinder Morgan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.29%. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.75, for a total value of $517,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 807,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,219,995. This trade represents a 2.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now 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 a total of 111,461 shares of company stock valued at $3,007,516 in the last quarter. 12.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kinder Morgan

Several hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in KMI. CX Institutional grew its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 2.3% during the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 15,661 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $429,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the period. Sunflower Bank N.A. increased its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 10,503 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $288,000 after acquiring an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC lifted its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 9,992 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA boosted its position in Kinder Morgan by 1.0% during the first quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 37,981 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,084,000 after purchasing an additional 377 shares during the period. Finally, Diligent Investors LLC raised its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 26,083 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $715,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares during the period. 62.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

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.