Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Acquires 18,201 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 2.1% during the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 882,795 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 18,201 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $24,189,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of KMI. Assetmark Inc. lifted its position in Kinder Morgan by 50.6% in the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 4,313 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $95,000 after buying an additional 1,450 shares during the last quarter. KBC Group NV raised its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 0.5% in the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 237,353 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $5,243,000 after acquiring an additional 1,265 shares during the period. CIBC Asset Management Inc boosted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 341,054 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $7,534,000 after purchasing an additional 22,151 shares during the period. Empowered Funds LLC grew its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 15.2% during the 3rd quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 172,905 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $3,819,000 after purchasing an additional 22,776 shares during the last quarter. Finally, KCM Investment Advisors LLC raised its position in Kinder Morgan by 14.9% in the 3rd quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,568 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 2,020 shares during the period. 62.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Insider Transactions at Kinder Morgan

In other Kinder Morgan news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.70, for a total value of $498,600.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 843,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,369,160.40. The trade was a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.65, for a total value of $2,011,035.65. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 220,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,881,148.65. This represents a 25.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 129,461 shares of company stock valued at $3,490,996 in the last 90 days. Insiders own 12.64% of the company’s stock.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KMI opened at $27.11 on Monday. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $27.60 and a 200 day moving average of $25.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a market capitalization of $60.23 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.52 and a 52 week high of $31.48.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last released its quarterly 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 return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 17.31%. On average, sell-side analysts predict that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.2875 dividend. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.24%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their target price on Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank started coverage on Kinder Morgan in a report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $26.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.64.

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.