Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. Raises Stock Position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC. increased its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 20.3% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 14,082 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 2,372 shares during the quarter. Williams Jones Wealth Management LLC.’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $386,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. CX Institutional increased its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. CX Institutional now owns 15,661 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $429,000 after buying an additional 354 shares during the last quarter. Diligent Investors LLC grew its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 1.5% during the 4th quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 26,083 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $715,000 after acquiring an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC grew its stake in Kinder Morgan by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 15,794 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC increased its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 9.6% in the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 4,946 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $136,000 after buying an additional 435 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Apollon Wealth Management LLC raised its stake in Kinder Morgan by 0.5% during the fourth quarter. Apollon Wealth Management LLC now owns 86,430 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,368,000 after buying an additional 438 shares in the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kinder Morgan Stock Down 1.8%

Kinder Morgan stock opened at $27.47 on Thursday. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.83 and a 52 week high of $31.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a market cap of $61.05 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.48, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.74. The company’s 50-day moving average price is $27.22 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.35.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.34. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 17.31% and a return on equity of 8.09%. On average, analysts expect that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a $0.2925 dividend. This is a positive change from Kinder Morgan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.26%. Kinder Morgan’s payout ratio is 100.86%.

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 on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.57, for a total value of $496,260.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 789,652 shares in the company, valued at $21,770,705.64. The trade was a 2.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 54,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,492,740. Corporate insiders own 12.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays upgraded shares of Kinder Morgan from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Mizuho raised their price target 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. Scotiabank lifted their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Monday, April 21st. Finally, UBS Group increased their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note 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, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.79.

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.