Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) Given New $39.00 Price Target at Morgan Stanley

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) had its target price cut by investment analysts at Morgan Stanley from $40.00 to $39.00 in a note issued to investors on Tuesday, Benzinga reports. The firm currently has an “equal weight” rating on the pipeline company’s stock. Morgan Stanley‘s price target would suggest a potential upside of 17.31% from the stock’s current price.

A number of other equities analysts also recently weighed in on KMI. Argus boosted their price target on Kinder Morgan from $36.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, July 28th. Melius Research started coverage on Kinder Morgan in a research note on Tuesday, September 22nd. They set a “buy” rating and a $38.00 target price for the company. Stifel Nicolaus began coverage on Kinder Morgan in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. They set a “hold” rating and a $35.00 target price on the stock. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Kinder Morgan from $36.00 to $37.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Monday. Twelve equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kinder Morgan has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $37.15.

Kinder Morgan Stock Up 1.6%

KMI traded up $0.54 during trading hours on Tuesday, hitting $33.24. 3,688,003 shares of the company’s stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 12,379,386. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $32.10 and its two-hundred day moving average is $32.05. Kinder Morgan has a 1-year low of $25.66 and a 1-year high of $34.81. The company has a quick ratio of 0.36, a current ratio of 0.67 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock has a market cap of $74.06 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 20.51, a PEG ratio of 2.34 and a beta of 0.59.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.35 earnings per share for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.53 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.37 billion. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 10.84% and a net margin of 19.64%. The business’s revenue was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company earned $0.29 earnings per share. Sell-side analysts predict that Kinder Morgan will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kinder Morgan news, VP Michael Garthwaite sold 1,550 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction on Friday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.65, for a total value of $52,157.50. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 47,313 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $1,592,082.45. The trade was a 3.17% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. 12.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the stock. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the second quarter worth $239,397,000. State Street Corp boosted its position in Kinder Morgan by 4.3% during the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 130,863,419 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,183,704,000 after buying an additional 5,361,578 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in Kinder Morgan by 220.9% during the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,915,696 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $125,185,000 after buying an additional 2,695,654 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund grew its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 253.0% in the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,994,968 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $100,421,000 after acquiring an additional 2,146,573 shares during the last quarter. Finally, BlackRock Inc. grew its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 1.1% in the 2nd quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 175,834,246 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,621,421,000 after acquiring an additional 1,875,143 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.52% of the company’s stock.

Kinder Morgan Company Profile

Kinder Morgan, Inc (NYSE: KMI) is an energy infrastructure company that owns and operates pipelines, terminals, and other transportation and storage facilities. Its systems primarily support the movement, processing, and storage of natural gas, crude oil, refined petroleum products, and other energy commodities.

The company’s natural gas business transports and stores natural gas for utilities, power generators, industrial customers, and other energy companies. Kinder Morgan also operates refined products and crude oil pipelines, liquids terminals, and carbon dioxide infrastructure.