Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) Hits New 1-Year High – Time to Buy?

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during mid-day trading on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $31.67 and last traded at $31.4870, with a volume of 13389201 shares trading hands. The stock had previously closed at $31.01.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KMI. Weiss Ratings reissued a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Scotiabank lifted their target price on Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. TD Cowen upped their price target 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. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 price target on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Nine investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.38.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.49 and a current ratio of 0.64. The firm has a market cap of $70.05 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.98, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.56 and a beta of 0.70. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $28.15 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.47.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.33 billion. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 18.04% and a return on equity of 9.02%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts expect that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.2925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.40%.

Insider Transactions at Kinder Morgan

In other news, Director William A. Smith acquired 3,000 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was purchased at an average price of $29.75 per share, for a total transaction of $89,250.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 31,087 shares in the company, valued at $924,838.25. The trade was a 10.68% increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 6,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.49, for a total value of $169,503.34. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 201,204 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,531,097.96. The trade was a 2.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 38,498 shares of company stock valued at $1,126,515 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.73% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Kinder Morgan

A number of large investors have recently modified their holdings of KMI. Waddell & Associates LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 26,206 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $720,000 after buying an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC increased its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 7,896 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $217,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares during the period. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. lifted its stake in Kinder Morgan by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Hazlett Burt & Watson Inc. now owns 22,530 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $617,000 after purchasing an additional 342 shares in the last quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV boosted its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 14.5% in the 2nd quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 2,818 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $83,000 after purchasing an additional 357 shares during the period. Finally, L.M. Kohn & Company increased its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 3.4% in the second quarter. L.M. Kohn & Company now owns 10,947 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $322,000 after purchasing an additional 360 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.52% of the company’s stock.

About Kinder Morgan

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.