On March 10, 2023 at 10:35:48 ET an unusually large $66.00K block of Call contracts in Kinder Morgan (KMI) was sold, with a strike price of $18.50 / share, expiring in 49 days (on April 28, 2023). Fintel tracks all large options trades, and the premium spent on this trade was 2.74 sigmas above the mean, placing it in the 99.95 percentile of all recent large trades made in KMI options.

This trade was first picked up on Fintel’s real time Unusual Option Trades tool, where unusual option trades are highlighted.

Analyst Price Forecast Suggests 21.07% Upside

As of March 10, 2023, the average one-year price target for Kinder Morgan is $20.75. The forecasts range from a low of $18.18 to a high of $25.20. The average price target represents an increase of 21.07% from its latest reported closing price of $17.14.

See our leaderboard of companies with the largest price target upside.

The projected annual revenue for Kinder Morgan is $19,706MM, an increase of 2.64%. The projected annual non-GAAP EPS is $1.13.

What is the Fund Sentiment?

There are 2138 funds or institutions reporting positions in Kinder Morgan. This is an increase of 43 owner(s) or 2.05% in the last quarter. Average portfolio weight of all funds dedicated to KMI is 0.47%, an increase of 4.34%. Total shares owned by institutions increased in the last three months by 0.58% to 1,527,023K shares. The put/call ratio of KMI is 0.49, indicating a bullish outlook.

What are Large Shareholders Doing?

Bank Of America holds 59,304K shares representing 2.64% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 53,752K shares, representing an increase of 9.36%. The firm decreased its portfolio allocation in KMI by 99.89% over the last quarter.

VTSMX – Vanguard Total Stock Market Index Fund Investor Shares holds 58,089K shares representing 2.58% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 57,067K shares, representing an increase of 1.76%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in KMI by 2.14% over the last quarter.

XLE – The Energy Select Sector SPDR Fund holds 57,256K shares representing 2.55% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 57,924K shares, representing a decrease of 1.17%. The firm decreased its portfolio allocation in KMI by 11.60% over the last quarter.

VFINX – Vanguard 500 Index Fund Investor Shares holds 45,726K shares representing 2.03% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 44,944K shares, representing an increase of 1.71%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in KMI by 1.84% over the last quarter.

Geode Capital Management holds 39,578K shares representing 1.76% ownership of the company. In it’s prior filing, the firm reported owning 38,828K shares, representing an increase of 1.90%. The firm increased its portfolio allocation in KMI by 2.38% over the last quarter.

Kinder Morgan Declares $0.28 Dividend

On January 18, 2023 the company declared a regular quarterly dividend of $0.28 per share ($1.11 annualized). Shareholders of record as of January 31, 2023 received the payment on February 15, 2023. Previously, the company paid $0.28 per share.

At the current share price of $17.14 / share, the stock’s dividend yield is 6.48%. Looking back five years and taking a sample every week, the average dividend yield has been 5.80%, the lowest has been 3.02%, and the highest has been 9.07%. The standard deviation of yields is 1.18 (n=236).

The current dividend yield is 0.57 standard deviations above the historical average.

Additionally, the company’s dividend payout ratio is 0.98. The payout ratio tells us how much of a company’s income is paid out in dividends. A payout ratio of one (1.0) means 100% of the company’s income is paid in a dividend. A payout ratio greater than one means the company is dipping into savings in order to maintain its dividend – not a healthy situation. Companies with few growth prospects are expected to pay out most of their income in dividends, which typically means a payout ratio between 0.5 and 1.0. Companies with good growth prospects are expected to retain some earnings in order to invest in those growth prospects, which translates to a payout ratio of zero to 0.5.

The company’s 3-Year dividend growth rate is 0.11%, demonstrating that it has increased its dividend over time.

Kinder Morgan Background Information
(This description is provided by the company.)

Kinder Morgan, Inc. is one of the largest energy infrastructure companies in North America. Access to reliable, affordable energy is a critical component for improving lives around the world. We are committed to providing energy transportation and storage services in a safe, efficient, and environmentally responsible manner for the benefit of people, communities and businesses we serve. We own an interest in or operate approximately 83,000 miles of pipelines and 147 terminals. Our pipelines transport natural gas, refined petroleum products, crude oil, condensate, CO2 and other products, and our terminals store and handle various commodities including gasoline, diesel fuel chemicals, ethanol, metals and petroleum coke.

This article originally appeared on Fintel