Scotiabank Increases Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) Price Target to $31.00

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) had its price objective raised by equities researchers at Scotiabank from $30.00 to $31.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday,Benzinga reports. The firm presently has a “sector perform” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. Scotiabank’s target price would suggest a potential downside of 8.00% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other equities analysts have also recently issued reports on the stock. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, February 27th. Morgan Stanley increased their target price on Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Friday. Finally, Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Friday, February 20th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.46.

Kinder Morgan Trading Up 1.2%

Shares of NYSE:KMI traded up $0.39 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $33.70. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 721,348 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,123,044. The firm has a 50 day moving average price of $30.84 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $28.43. Kinder Morgan has a fifty-two week low of $23.94 and a fifty-two week high of $34.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.97 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.58, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.64.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.02. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 18.04%.The firm had revenue of $4.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.33 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kinder Morgan

In other Kinder Morgan news, CFO David Patrick Michels sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 139,428 shares in the company, valued at $4,182,840. This trade represents a 12.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 6,166 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.67, for a total value of $207,609.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 188,872 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,359,320.24. The trade was a 3.16% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 46,498 shares of company stock valued at $1,418,248 in the last three months. 12.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kinder Morgan

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Commonwealth Retirement Investments LLC purchased a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $27,000. Acumen Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Kinder Morgan during the 4th quarter valued at $28,000. Dorato Capital Management purchased a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter worth about $30,000. Finally, Basepoint Wealth LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $30,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.52% of the company’s stock.

About Kinder Morgan

Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI) is a large energy infrastructure company that owns and operates an extensive network of pipelines and terminals across North America. Its core activities center on the transportation, storage and handling of energy products, including natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil, refined petroleum products and carbon dioxide. The company’s assets include long-haul and gathering pipelines, storage facilities, and multi-modal terminals that serve producers, refiners, utilities and industrial customers.

Kinder Morgan’s operations deliver midstream services such as pipeline transportation, terminaling, storage and related logistics and maintenance.