Investors Purchase High Volume of Call Options on Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI)

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) saw unusually large options trading on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 26,802 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of approximately 45% compared to the average daily volume of 18,489 call options.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, December 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $26.00 target price on Kinder Morgan in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Friday. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $26.00 target price on the stock. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $26.67.

Kinder Morgan Trading Up 2.1 %

KMI traded up $0.60 during trading on Tuesday, reaching $29.12. 14,221,581 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 11,672,043. The company’s fifty day moving average price is $27.39 and its 200-day moving average price is $23.85. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.46. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.69 billion, a PE ratio of 25.54, a P/E/G ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.94. Kinder Morgan has a fifty-two week low of $16.47 and a fifty-two week high of $29.29.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates 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 quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.25 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan will post 1.18 EPS for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a dividend of $0.2875 per share. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.95%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.88%.

Insider Transactions at Kinder Morgan

In related news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 19,121 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.28, for a total transaction of $502,499.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 897,652 shares in the company, valued at $23,590,294.56. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, Director Amy W. Chronis purchased 2,241 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was bought at an average price of $24.89 per share, for a total transaction of $55,778.49. Following the completion of the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,995 shares in the company, valued at approximately $597,235.55. The trade was a 10.30 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 745,263 shares of company stock worth $18,578,014. 12.64% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kinder Morgan

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its position in Kinder Morgan by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 4,591,311 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $101,422,000 after acquiring an additional 29,861 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC boosted its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 3.5% during the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 22,813 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $504,000 after purchasing an additional 776 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its position in Kinder Morgan by 3.2% in the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,291,704 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $50,624,000 after purchasing an additional 71,984 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its stake in Kinder Morgan by 6.9% in the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 393,351 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,689,000 after buying an additional 25,406 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in Kinder Morgan by 1,512.7% during the 3rd quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 88,583 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,956,000 after buying an additional 83,090 shares in the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.