Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) Upgraded at US Capital Advisors

US Capital Advisors upgraded shares of Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) from a hold rating to an overweight rating in a report issued on Friday, PriceTargets.com reports.

Several other research analysts have also recently issued reports on the company. StockNews.com started coverage on Kinder Morgan in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a hold rating for the company. Royal Bank of Canada reissued a sector perform rating and issued a $20.00 target price on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Thursday, July 20th. Pickering Energy Partners started coverage on Kinder Morgan in a research report on Tuesday, October 3rd. They issued a neutral rating for the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Kinder Morgan from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a hold rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 1st. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group started coverage on Kinder Morgan in a research report on Thursday, October 5th. They set a buy rating and a $20.00 price objective for the company. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a sell rating, eight have issued a hold rating and three have given a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has an average rating of Hold and a consensus target price of $20.38.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KMI opened at $16.94 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $16.72 and its two-hundred day moving average is $16.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.39 and a quick ratio of 0.30. Kinder Morgan has a 1-year low of $15.89 and a 1-year high of $19.35. The company has a market cap of $37.65 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 15.40, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 5.13 and a beta of 0.97.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 18th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.26 by ($0.01). The business had revenue of $3.91 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.64 billion. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 7.78% and a net margin of 15.54%. The company’s revenue was down 24.5% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.25 earnings per share. Analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan will post 1.1 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, November 15th. Investors of record on Tuesday, October 31st were paid a $0.2825 dividend. This represents a $1.13 annualized dividend and a yield of 6.67%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, October 30th. Kinder Morgan’s payout ratio is currently 102.73%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kinder Morgan

Several hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of KMI. VitalStone Financial LLC increased its position in Kinder Morgan by 1,451.0% during the second quarter. VitalStone Financial LLC now owns 1,551 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $27,000 after buying an additional 1,451 shares in the last quarter. Hartford Financial Management Inc. purchased a new position in Kinder Morgan during the third quarter worth $26,000. First Capital Advisors Group LLC. purchased a new position in Kinder Morgan during the second quarter worth $29,000. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV increased its position in Kinder Morgan by 57.6% during the second quarter. Creative Financial Designs Inc. ADV now owns 1,732 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $30,000 after buying an additional 633 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA increased its position in Kinder Morgan by 100.0% during the second quarter. Farmers & Merchants Trust Co of Chambersburg PA now owns 2,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $34,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares in the last quarter. 62.33% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kinder Morgan Company Profile

Kinder Morgan, Inc operates as an energy infrastructure company in North America. The company operates through four segments: Natural Gas Pipelines, Products Pipelines, Terminals, and CO2. The Natural Gas Pipelines segment owns and operates interstate and intrastate natural gas pipeline, and underground 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.