Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) Shares Down 0.2% – Should You Sell?

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) shares fell 0.2% during mid-day trading on Friday . The company traded as low as $30.35 and last traded at $30.41. 2,526,401 shares traded hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 82% from the average session volume of 14,277,969 shares. The stock had previously closed at $30.48.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research firms have issued reports on KMI. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Scotiabank began coverage on Kinder Morgan in a report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $26.00 price objective for the company. Barclays increased their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 16th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Thursday. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $28.92.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The company has a market capitalization of $67.44 billion, a PE ratio of 25.95, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $27.97 and a 200 day moving average of $24.37.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The pipeline company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.01). Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 17.31% and a return on equity of 8.10%. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.27 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be issued a $0.2875 dividend. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.79%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio is 98.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kinder Morgan

In related news, Director Amy W. Chronis acquired 2,241 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $24.89 per share, with a total value of $55,778.49. Following the completion of the purchase, the director now directly owns 23,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $597,235.55. This represents a 10.30 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The purchase was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total value of $502,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 861,652 shares in the company, valued at $24,048,707.32. This trade represents a 2.05 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 55,121 shares of company stock valued at $1,497,000. 12.64% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the stock. CX Institutional raised its stake in Kinder Morgan by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 15,661 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $429,000 after purchasing an additional 354 shares during the period. Sunflower Bank N.A. raised its stake in Kinder Morgan by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 10,503 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $288,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the period. Ignite Planners LLC raised its stake in Kinder Morgan by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 9,992 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its stake in Kinder Morgan by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 5,182 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $142,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the period. Finally, Sunbelt Securities Inc. raised its stake in Kinder Morgan by 0.5% during the 3rd quarter. Sunbelt Securities Inc. now owns 90,560 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,000,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares during the period. 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.