Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) Short Interest Update

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest during the month of March. As of March 15th, there was short interest totalling 33,910,000 shares, a decline of 13.0% from the February 28th total of 38,970,000 shares. Based on an average trading volume of 14,430,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is currently 2.3 days. Currently, 1.8% of the company’s shares are sold short.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on KMI shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $26.00 price objective for the company. UBS Group upped their target price on Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Mizuho raised their target price on Kinder Morgan from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada upped their price target on Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.64.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

NYSE KMI traded down $1.03 during trading hours on Thursday, hitting $27.90. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 10,220,888 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,692,463. Kinder Morgan has a 12 month low of $17.61 and a 12 month high of $31.48. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.35 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $26.54. 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 market cap of $61.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.85, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The pipeline company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.01). Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 17.31%. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Kinder Morgan will post 1.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.2875 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.12%. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 98.29%.

Insider Activity

In other Kinder Morgan news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.70, for a total value of $498,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 843,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,369,160.40. The trade was a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.65, for a total value of $2,011,035.65. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 220,681 shares in the company, valued at $5,881,148.65. This trade represents a 25.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders sold 111,461 shares of company stock valued at $2,988,616. Corporate insiders own 12.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Kinder Morgan

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan during the 4th quarter valued at about $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan during the 4th quarter valued at $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new stake in Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter worth about $26,000. Finally, Modus Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. 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.