Financial Counselors Inc. Increases Stock Holdings in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Financial Counselors Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 14.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 12,473 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 1,558 shares during the quarter. Financial Counselors Inc.’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $356,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Sierra Ocean LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 927.1% during the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 873 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 788 shares during the period. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $26,000. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $27,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $29,000. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KMI has been the subject of a number of research reports. TD Cowen began coverage on Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday. They issued a “buy” rating and a $34.00 price objective for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Cowen began coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Monday. They set a “buy” rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $34.00 target price on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.40.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

KMI stock opened at $27.77 on Thursday. The stock has a market capitalization of $61.71 billion, a PE ratio of 23.94, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.09 and a beta of 0.75. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.88 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.57. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 12-month low of $19.68 and a 12-month high of $31.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.34. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 8.11% and a net margin of 16.67%. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.02 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a $0.2925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This is a positive change from Kinder Morgan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.21%. Kinder Morgan’s payout ratio is currently 100.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kinder Morgan

In related news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.26, for a total value of $508,680.00. Following the sale, the president owned 771,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,806,885.52. This trade represents a 2.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. 12.73% of the stock is owned by insiders.

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.