Investors Purchase High Volume of Kinder Morgan Call Options (NYSE:KMI)

Key Points

• Investors showed significant interest in Kinder Morgan, purchasing 29,046 call options, an increase of 81% from the typical volume, indicating a bullish sentiment on the stock.
• The company's shares increased by 1.0% during trading, closing at $28.09, with a market capitalization of $62.41 billion.
• Kinder Morgan recently announced a quarterly dividend of $0.2925, providing an annual yield of 4.2%, while maintaining a high dividend payout ratio of 95.90%.

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) saw unusually large options trading activity on Thursday. Investors purchased 29,046 call options on the stock. This represents an increase of 81% compared to the typical volume of 16,031 call options.

Kinder Morgan Stock Up 1.0%

NYSE KMI traded up $0.27 during trading on Thursday, reaching $28.09. 2,679,817 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,225,006. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The firm has a market cap of $62.41 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.01, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.22 and a beta of 0.81. The company's 50 day simple moving average is $27.13 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.40. Kinder Morgan has a 12-month low of $21.61 and a 12-month high of $31.48.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.28 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 17.06% and a return on equity of 8.31%. The business had revenue of $4.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.75 billion. During the same period last year, the business earned $0.26 EPS. The company's revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. Kinder Morgan has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.270-1.270 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan will post 1.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $0.2925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.2%. Kinder Morgan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 95.90%.

Insider Activity at Kinder Morgan

In related news, Director Amy W. Chronis purchased 2,759 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was bought at an average cost of $27.21 per share, for a total transaction of $75,072.39. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director owned 34,764 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $945,928.44. This represents a 8.62% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 6,166 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Monday, September 8th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.00, for a total transaction of $166,482.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 225,868 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,098,436. This represents a 2.66% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 128,008 shares of company stock valued at $3,553,982. 12.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Trading of Kinder Morgan

A number of institutional investors have recently bought and sold shares of KMI. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Kinder Morgan by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. Valeo Financial Advisors LLC now owns 40,027 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,177,000 after acquiring an additional 805 shares during the period. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans lifted its stake in Kinder Morgan by 47.8% during the 2nd quarter. Thrivent Financial for Lutherans now owns 486,475 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $14,294,000 after acquiring an additional 157,392 shares during the period. MASTERINVEST Kapitalanlage GmbH acquired a new stake in Kinder Morgan during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $234,000. TT Capital Management LLC acquired a new stake in Kinder Morgan during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $2,391,000. Finally, B. Riley Wealth Advisors Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $906,000. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on KMI shares. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $34.00 target price on the stock. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Kinder Morgan from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $31.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, August 14th. Finally, Scotiabank dropped their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $28.00 to $27.00 and set a "sector perform" rating on the stock in a research note on Friday, September 19th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $31.06.

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.

This instant news alert was generated by narrative science technology and financial data from MarketBeat in order to provide readers with the fastest and most accurate reporting. This story was reviewed by MarketBeat's editorial team prior to publication. Please send any questions or comments about this story to contact@marketbeat.com.