Chung Wu Investment Group LLC Acquires New Holdings in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Chung Wu Investment Group LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund acquired 14,050 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $385,000.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMI. Lindbrook Capital LLC raised its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 742.2% in the fourth quarter. Lindbrook Capital LLC now owns 51,554 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,413,000 after purchasing an additional 45,433 shares during the period. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $157,804,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $128,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. increased its position in Kinder Morgan by 8.5% during the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 36,786 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,008,000 after acquiring an additional 2,873 shares during the period. Finally, Verdence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter worth $341,000. Institutional investors own 62.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Mizuho boosted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Citigroup lifted their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, Kinder Morgan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.64.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total transaction of $502,380.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 861,652 shares in the company, valued at $24,048,707.32. This represents a 2.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.65, for a total transaction 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 trade represents a 25.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 111,461 shares of company stock worth $3,012,016 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.64% of the company’s stock.

Kinder Morgan Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of NYSE:KMI opened at $26.76 on Thursday. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.45 and a 52 week high of $31.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.49. The company’s fifty day moving average is $27.75 and its 200-day moving average is $25.65. The company has a market capitalization of $59.45 billion, a PE ratio of 22.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The pipeline company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.01). Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 17.31% and a return on equity of 8.09%. Equities research analysts predict that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.2875 per share. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.30%. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.29%.

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.