Royal Bank of Canada Raises Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) Price Target to $24.00

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) had its target price boosted by Royal Bank of Canada from $22.00 to $24.00 in a report released on Wednesday, Benzinga reports. Royal Bank of Canada currently has a sector perform rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

A number of other research analysts have also recently weighed in on KMI. Barclays lifted their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley upgraded shares of Kinder Morgan from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 price target for the company in a research note on Monday, September 16th. UBS Group increased their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, September 11th. Bank of America upgraded Kinder Morgan from a “neutral” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $23.00 to $27.00 in a report on Friday, October 11th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and two have assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kinder Morgan currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $24.27.

Kinder Morgan Stock Up 0.5 %

NYSE:KMI opened at $24.95 on Wednesday. Kinder Morgan has a 52 week low of $15.91 and a 52 week high of $25.43. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $22.12 and its two-hundred day moving average is $20.47. The stock has a market capitalization of $55.37 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.68, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.27 and a beta of 0.93.

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 firm 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 7.89% and a net margin of 15.93%. Kinder Morgan’s revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.25 EPS. Research analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st will be given a $0.2875 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.61%. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 104.55%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 100,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.01, for a total value of $2,101,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 916,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,261,400.73. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In other news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.01, for a total value of $2,101,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 916,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $19,261,400.73. This represents a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP Dax Sanders sold 1,729 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total transaction of $36,309.00. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 307,409 shares in the company, valued at $6,455,589. The trade was a 0.00 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 148,311 shares of company stock valued at $3,121,891. 12.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kinder Morgan

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMI. Czech National Bank raised its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 6.9% during the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 393,351 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,689,000 after purchasing an additional 25,406 shares during the last quarter. LSV Asset Management acquired a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan in the 1st quarter worth $8,818,000. Duality Advisers LP boosted its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 42.7% in the first quarter. Duality Advisers LP now owns 317,425 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $5,822,000 after acquiring an additional 94,984 shares in the last quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S increased its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 221.3% during the first quarter. BI Asset Management Fondsmaeglerselskab A S now owns 251,635 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,615,000 after acquiring an additional 173,313 shares during the period. Finally, CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co lifted its position in Kinder Morgan by 6.0% in the first quarter. CANADA LIFE ASSURANCE Co now owns 2,545,943 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $46,726,000 after purchasing an additional 144,687 shares during the period. 62.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

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.