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

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) shares reached a new 52-week high on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $31.67 and last traded at $31.4870, with a volume of 13389201 shares traded. The stock had previously closed at $31.01.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on KMI shares. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Friday, December 12th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Freedom Capital upgraded Kinder Morgan from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 28th. Finally, TD Cowen increased their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock 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 issued a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.38.

Kinder Morgan Stock Up 1.5%

The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market capitalization of $70.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.98, a PEG ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.70. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $28.15 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.47.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.02. The business 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 for the quarter was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. As a group, research analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd will be given a $0.2925 dividend. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 2nd. Kinder Morgan’s payout ratio is currently 85.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kinder Morgan

In other Kinder Morgan news, CFO David Patrick Michels sold 20,000 shares of Kinder Morgan 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 transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 139,428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $4,182,840. This trade represents a 12.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 6,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.49, for a total transaction of $169,503.34. Following the sale, the vice president owned 201,204 shares in the company, valued at $5,531,097.96. This represents a 2.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders sold 38,498 shares of company stock worth $1,126,515 over the last 90 days. 12.73% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kinder Morgan

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of KMI. Aviva PLC raised its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 5.7% during the 4th quarter. Aviva PLC now owns 3,154,085 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $86,706,000 after buying an additional 169,253 shares during the period. Mosley Wealth Management bought a new position in Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter valued at $881,000. Kovack Advisors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 69.8% in the fourth quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 37,402 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,028,000 after acquiring an additional 15,381 shares during the period. Keeler Thomas Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Keeler Thomas Management LLC now owns 70,668 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,943,000 after acquiring an additional 480 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Nuveen LLC grew its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 19.8% during the 4th quarter. Nuveen LLC now owns 8,133,977 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $223,603,000 after purchasing an additional 1,344,802 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 (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.