Aurora Investment Counsel Lowers Position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Aurora Investment Counsel cut its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 28.9% during the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The firm owned 80,245 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 32,673 shares during the quarter. Kinder Morgan accounts for about 1.2% of Aurora Investment Counsel’s holdings, making the stock its 26th largest position. Aurora Investment Counsel’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $2,199,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of KMI. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new position in Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter valued at $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter valued at about $25,000. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter valued at about $27,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter valued at about $29,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp lifted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 143.6% in the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 1,352 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $30,000 after acquiring an additional 797 shares in the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

NYSE KMI opened at $26.54 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The stock’s fifty day moving average price is $27.62 and its 200 day moving average price is $25.83. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.45 and a 1 year high of $31.48. The company has a market cap of $58.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.69, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a dividend of $0.2875 per share. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.33%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Kinder Morgan’s payout ratio is currently 98.29%.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.65, for a total value of $2,011,035.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 220,681 shares in the company, valued at $5,881,148.65. The trade was a 25.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.61, for a total value of $478,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 825,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,970,599.72. This represents a 2.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 129,461 shares of company stock worth $3,490,996 in the last ninety days. Company insiders own 12.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts have recently commented on the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Barclays raised Kinder Morgan from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial boosted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Seven equities research 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 stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.64.

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.