UPDATE: JP Morgan Upgrades Kinder Morgan to Overweight on Growth Visibility, Valuation

JP Morgan upgraded its rating on Kinder Morgan

from Neutral to Overweight and increased its price target from $34 to $39. JP Morgan noted, "With the successful completion of a sizeable $6.2bn initial KMP drop-down and the supporting equity issuance, we are updating our thesis and estimates to reflect what we believe is a favorable risk/reward proposition at KMI. As such, we are raising our PT to $39 and rating to Overweight. After acquiring El Paso, Kinder Morgan is now the third-largest domestic energy company, with a combined corporate family EV of ~$100bn. We believe that this level of scale, diversification, growth and stability makes KMI a core holding for investors seeking exposure to the significant energy infrastructure build-out necessitated by expanding unconventional production." Kinder Morgan closed at $34.49 on Wednesday.