Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) Sees Significant Decline in Short Interest

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) was the recipient of a large decline in short interest in November. As of November 15th, there was short interest totalling 40,290,000 shares, a decline of 5.8% from the October 31st total of 42,760,000 shares. Based on an average daily volume of 13,780,000 shares, the days-to-cover ratio is presently 2.9 days. Currently, 2.1% of the company’s stock are short sold.

Insider Transactions at Kinder Morgan

In other Kinder Morgan news, Director Amy W. Chronis acquired 2,241 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were acquired at an average cost of $24.89 per share, with a total value of $55,778.49. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $597,235.55. The trade was a 10.30 % increase in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, December 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.34, for a total value of $492,120.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 879,652 shares in the company, valued at $24,049,685.68. This trade represents a 2.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 727,263 shares of company stock valued at $18,075,634 in the last ninety days. 12.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kinder Morgan

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the 3rd quarter worth about $28,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the second quarter worth approximately $30,000. Planning Capital Management Corp increased its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 143.6% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 1,352 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $30,000 after acquiring an additional 797 shares during the period. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, HM Payson & Co. increased its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 401.8% during the third quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 1,430 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145 shares during the period. 62.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KMI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $22.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $26.00 price objective on Kinder Morgan in a research note on Friday, October 18th. Barclays upped their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Monday, November 4th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.67.

Kinder Morgan Stock Down 0.1 %

Shares of NYSE:KMI opened at $27.40 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Kinder Morgan has a 12 month low of $16.47 and a 12 month high of $28.81. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $25.52 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.30. The company has a market cap of $60.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.04, a PEG ratio of 3.95 and a beta of 0.95.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.02). Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 16.76% and a return on equity of 7.87%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.25 EPS. The firm’s revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, equities research analysts predict that Kinder Morgan will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a $0.2875 dividend. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.20%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.88%.

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.