Kinder Morgan Sees Unusually High Options Volume (NYSE:KMI)

Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) was the target of some unusual options trading on Friday. Investors bought 20,717 call options on the stock. This is an increase of approximately 39% compared to the average daily volume of 14,872 call options.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

Shares of Kinder Morgan stock traded up $0.63 during trading on Friday, hitting $18.84. 25,410,416 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,283,014. Kinder Morgan has a 1 year low of $15.89 and a 1 year high of $18.90. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.78 and a 200-day simple moving average of $17.39. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.88, a current ratio of 0.35 and a quick ratio of 0.28. The stock has a market capitalization of $41.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 17.13, a PEG ratio of 4.97 and a beta of 0.90.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 17th. The pipeline company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34. The firm had revenue of $3.84 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.36 billion. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 7.85%. The business's quarterly revenue was down 1.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted $0.30 EPS. As a group, analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th will be issued a dividend of $0.2875 per share. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 6.10%. This is a boost from Kinder Morgan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, April 29th. Kinder Morgan's dividend payout ratio is presently 102.73%.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Kinder Morgan

A number of institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the company. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC grew its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 10.3% during the 1st quarter. Tempus Wealth Planning LLC now owns 100,096 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,836,000 after purchasing an additional 9,354 shares during the period. Kovack Advisors Inc. grew its position in Kinder Morgan by 3.2% during the first quarter. Kovack Advisors Inc. now owns 24,574 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $451,000 after buying an additional 767 shares during the period. Norden Group LLC purchased a new stake in Kinder Morgan during the first quarter valued at approximately $2,539,000. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC raised its position in Kinder Morgan by 2.0% in the first quarter. Bourgeon Capital Management LLC now owns 230,241 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $4,223,000 after acquiring an additional 4,434 shares during the period. Finally, Redmont Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the 1st quarter worth $31,000. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial reissued a "hold" rating and set a $20.00 price objective (down previously from $22.00) on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Monday, March 25th. StockNews.com lowered Kinder Morgan from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 1st. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and two have issued a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $20.20.

Kinder Morgan Company Profile

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.