Morgan Stanley Issues Positive Forecast for Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) Stock Price

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) had its price objective hoisted by Morgan Stanley from $34.00 to $35.00 in a research note released on Wednesday morning,Benzinga reports. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the pipeline company’s stock.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on KMI. Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday, July 7th. They set a “buy” rating for the company. BMO Capital Markets assumed coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Friday, September 19th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $32.00 target price for the company. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Finally, Barclays reissued an “overweight” rating and set a $32.00 target price (up previously from $31.00) on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Ten investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $31.25.

Kinder Morgan Trading Down 0.1%

NYSE KMI opened at $28.28 on Wednesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.23 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.46. The stock has a market cap of $62.85 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.18, a P/E/G ratio of 3.32 and a beta of 0.78. Kinder Morgan has a 12-month low of $22.60 and a 12-month high of $31.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.68, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.28. The business had revenue of $4.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $3.75 billion. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 17.06% and a return on equity of 8.31%. The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. Kinder Morgan has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.270-1.270 EPS. On average, analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were given a $0.2925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.1%. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 95.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP Sital K. Mody sold 45,549 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total value of $1,273,550.04. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, CFO David Patrick Michels sold 40,000 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.19, for a total transaction of $1,127,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 159,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,494,275.32. This trade represents a 20.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 128,008 shares of company stock valued at $3,553,982. 12.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kinder Morgan

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KMI. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new position in Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter worth about $308,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its position in Kinder Morgan by 3,019.2% during the first quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 1,003,857 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $28,640,000 after acquiring an additional 971,674 shares during the last quarter. NBC Securities Inc. boosted its position in Kinder Morgan by 104,636.4% during the first quarter. NBC Securities Inc. now owns 23,042 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $657,000 after acquiring an additional 23,020 shares during the last quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC boosted its position in Kinder Morgan by 207.1% during the first quarter. Harbor Investment Advisory LLC now owns 4,730 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $135,000 after acquiring an additional 3,190 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Merit Financial Group LLC boosted its position in Kinder Morgan by 10.5% during the first quarter. Merit Financial Group LLC now owns 71,814 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,049,000 after acquiring an additional 6,830 shares during 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.