Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) Announces Dividend Increase – $0.29 Per Share

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) declared a quarterly dividend on Thursday, April 17th, Wall Street Journal reports. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of 0.2925 per share by the pipeline company on Thursday, May 15th. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This is a 1.7% increase from Kinder Morgan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29.

Kinder Morgan has decreased its dividend by an average of 7.2% per year over the last three years. Kinder Morgan has a dividend payout ratio of 83.3% indicating that its dividend is currently covered by earnings, but may not be in the future if the company’s earnings decline. Analysts expect Kinder Morgan to earn $1.29 per share next year, which means the company should continue to be able to cover its $1.15 annual dividend with an expected future payout ratio of 89.1%.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

NYSE:KMI opened at $27.09 on Friday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.19 billion, a PE ratio of 23.15, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.72. Kinder Morgan has a twelve month low of $18.13 and a twelve month high of $31.48. The stock’s 50-day simple moving average is $26.94 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.91.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.34. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 17.31% and a return on equity of 8.09%. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.02 billion. On average, analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan will post 1.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KMI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Kinder Morgan in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $26.00 price target for the company. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Mizuho upped their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kinder Morgan presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.65, for a total value of $2,011,035.65. Following the transaction, the vice president now owns 220,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,881,148.65. This represents a 25.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.70, for a total value of $498,600.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 843,652 shares in the company, valued at $23,369,160.40. This trade represents a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 129,461 shares of company stock worth $3,506,116. 12.73% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kinder Morgan

A hedge fund recently bought a new stake in Kinder Morgan stock. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm acquired 11,253 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $308,000. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Kinder Morgan

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.