Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Sells 1,722,271 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc cut its position in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 14.8% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 9,948,442 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 1,722,271 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc owned about 0.45% of Kinder Morgan worth $272,587,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. First Manhattan CO. LLC. acquired a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter worth $248,000. Deutsche Bank AG lifted its stake in Kinder Morgan by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 14,711,722 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $403,101,000 after buying an additional 2,116,576 shares during the period. Diligent Investors LLC lifted its stake in Kinder Morgan by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 26,083 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $715,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. Eagle Global Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Kinder Morgan by 248.6% in the fourth quarter. Eagle Global Advisors LLC now owns 879,460 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $24,097,000 after buying an additional 627,160 shares during the period. Finally, EP Wealth Advisors LLC lifted its stake in Kinder Morgan by 1.3% in the fourth quarter. EP Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 139,232 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $3,815,000 after buying an additional 1,719 shares during the period. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE:KMI traded up $0.28 during mid-day trading on Friday, reaching $27.32. The company had a trading volume of 8,832,253 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,000,032. 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 firm has a market cap of $60.71 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.35, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.74. The company's 50-day moving average price is $27.02 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.21. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a one year low of $18.83 and a one year high of $31.48.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 17.31% and a return on equity of 8.09%. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.2925 per share. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.28%. This is a positive change from Kinder Morgan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. Kinder Morgan's payout ratio is presently 100.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on KMI shares. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday, May 5th. UBS Group raised their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Truist Financial lifted their price target on Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank lifted their price target on Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Seven 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $29.79.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kinder Morgan news, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of the firm's 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 220,681 shares of the company's stock, valued at $5,881,148.65. This trade represents a 25.48% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.57, for a total transaction of $496,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 789,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,770,705.64. This trade represents a 2.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 129,461 shares of company stock worth $3,503,776 in the last three months. 12.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kinder Morgan 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.