QRG Capital Management Inc. Acquires 22,324 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

QRG Capital Management Inc. grew its holdings in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 7.4% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 325,521 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 22,324 shares during the period. QRG Capital Management Inc.’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $8,919,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the business. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 39.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,186,207 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $180,833,000 after acquiring an additional 2,334,273 shares during the period. Fisher Funds Management LTD bought a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter worth $62,534,000. National Bank of Canada FI grew its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 295.5% in the third quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,937,055 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $64,879,000 after purchasing an additional 2,194,489 shares in the last quarter. National Pension Service lifted its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 55.6% during the 4th quarter. National Pension Service now owns 4,573,495 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $125,314,000 after purchasing an additional 1,634,631 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Jennison Associates LLC boosted its stake in Kinder Morgan by 847.4% in the 4th quarter. Jennison Associates LLC now owns 1,475,187 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $40,420,000 after purchasing an additional 1,319,474 shares during the period. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kinder Morgan Stock Up 0.2 %

Shares of NYSE KMI opened at $26.23 on Friday. The stock has a market capitalization of $58.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.42, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a one year low of $17.02 and a one year high of $31.48. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.76 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $25.45. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

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

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.2875 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.38%. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 98.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kinder Morgan

In related news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of Kinder Morgan 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 completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 861,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,048,707.32. This trade represents a 2.05 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of the business’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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 220,681 shares in the company, valued at $5,881,148.65. The trade was a 25.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 129,461 shares of company stock valued at $3,504,136. 12.64% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Citigroup upped their price target on Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $26.00 price target for the company. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays boosted their target price on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kinder Morgan has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.14.

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.