Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) Sets New 52-Week High After Analyst Upgrade

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)’s stock price hit a new 52-week high during trading on Monday after Morgan Stanley raised their price target on the stock from $34.00 to $36.00. Morgan Stanley currently has an equal weight rating on the stock. Kinder Morgan traded as high as $33.75 and last traded at $33.7370, with a volume of 2330734 shares changing hands. The stock had previously closed at $33.27.

A number of other analysts have also weighed in on KMI. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and issued a $38.00 target price on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Jefferies Financial Group lifted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Barclays reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Finally, Mizuho lowered their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating for the company in a report on Friday, November 14th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.62.

Insider Activity 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 stock was 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 approximately $4,182,840. This represents a 12.54% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP Anthony B. Ashley sold 8,000 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total value of $255,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 100,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,199,664.70. This represents a 7.40% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last three months, insiders sold 46,498 shares of company stock worth $1,382,115. Corporate insiders own 12.73% of the company’s stock.

Kinder Morgan News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Kinder Morgan this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Goldman Sachs reaffirmed its Buy rating and the company added roughly $900M of new gas projects to its backlog, supporting revenue visibility and reinforcing buy-side conviction. Kinder Morgan Adds $900M in New Gas Projects
• Positive Sentiment: Morgan Stanley raised its price target from $34 to $36 (still Equal Weight), which signals modest incremental upside from current levels and likely provided short-term support. Morgan Stanley Raises Price Target
• Positive Sentiment: Multiple industry write-ups highlight stronger natural gas demand (including LNG and data-center-driven power demand) as a tailwind for midstream earnings and cash flows, which benefits KMI as a large pipeline and storage operator. Zacks: Natural Gas Stocks to Gain
• Neutral Sentiment: KMI presented at the Raymond James Institutional Investor Conference — useful for investor outreach and transparency but not an immediate earnings surprise. Conference Transcript
• Neutral Sentiment: Heightened retail/institutional interest noted in coverage (Zacks feature on heavy searches) — increases liquidity and attention but not a directional catalyst by itself. Zacks: Investors Heavily Search KMI
• Negative Sentiment: Unusually large put option activity — 32,488 puts traded (~52% above typical volume) — suggests some market participants are positioning for downside or hedging exposure, which can increase short-term volatility and pressure.
• Negative Sentiment: MarketWatch flagged that KMI has underperformed peers despite daily gains, indicating the stock’s rally may lag the sector and could face relative selling if peer strength persists. MarketWatch: Underperformance vs. Competitors

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

A number of hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 1.0% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 210,281,448 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,780,637,000 after buying an additional 2,165,130 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp raised its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 2.2% during the fourth quarter. State Street Corp now owns 116,860,317 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,212,490,000 after acquiring an additional 2,510,601 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 1.2% during the second quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 51,848,863 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,518,195,000 after acquiring an additional 599,152 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank acquired a new position in Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $1,132,125,000. Finally, Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. grew its stake in Kinder Morgan by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Charles Schwab Investment Management Inc. now owns 30,104,829 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $827,582,000 after purchasing an additional 195,088 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.52% of the company’s stock.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

The stock has a market cap of $75.47 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.76, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.79 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. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $29.77 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.00.

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

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.2925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.4%. Kinder Morgan’s payout ratio is currently 85.40%.

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.