Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC Trims Stock Position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. $KMI

Key Points

• Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC trimmed its Kinder Morgan stake by 41.9% in Q4, selling 111,215 shares and leaving it with 154,096 shares valued at $4.24 million.
• Institutional activity was mixed: AQR grew its position 431.9% to 6,569,082 shares while Vanguard holds 210,281,448 shares ($5.78 billion), and overall institutional/hedge fund ownership stands at 62.52%.
• Kinder Morgan beat quarterly estimates (EPS $0.48 vs. $0.38; revenue $4.83B, +13.8% YoY) and raised its quarterly dividend to $0.2975 ($1.19 annual, a 3.8% yield), with FY2026 guidance at 1.36 EPS and consensus at ~1.45.

Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC reduced its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 41.9% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 154,096 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 111,215 shares during the quarter. Ashton Thomas Private Wealth LLC's holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $4,236,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 431.9% in the 3rd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,569,082 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $185,971,000 after purchasing an additional 5,333,986 shares during the last quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $138,477,000. Zimmer Partners LP grew its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 177.8% in the 3rd quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 6,070,100 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $171,845,000 after purchasing an additional 3,885,000 shares during the last quarter. Holocene Advisors LP acquired a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan in the 3rd quarter valued at approximately $77,662,000. Finally, Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 1.0% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 210,281,448 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $5,780,637,000 after buying an additional 2,165,130 shares during the period. 62.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

NYSE:KMI opened at $31.01 on Tuesday. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.60 and a 1 year high of $34.73. The firm has a 50 day moving average of $32.89 and a 200-day moving average of $29.53. The company has a current ratio of 0.52, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. The stock has a market capitalization of $68.98 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.81, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.80 and a beta of 0.64.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The pipeline company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.10. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 18.92% and a return on equity of 9.90%. The company had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company posted $0.34 earnings per share. Kinder Morgan's quarterly revenue was up 13.8% compared to the same quarter last year. Kinder Morgan has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.360-1.360 EPS. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.45 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Monday, May 4th will be paid a $0.2975 dividend. This represents a $1.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. This is an increase from Kinder Morgan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date is Monday, May 4th. Kinder Morgan's dividend payout ratio is presently 78.52%.

Insider Activity at Kinder Morgan

In related news, VP Michael P. Garthwaite sold 1,550 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, April 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.72, for a total value of $49,166.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 44,843 shares in the company, valued at $1,422,419.96. The trade was a 3.34% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 6,166 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.67, for a total transaction of $207,609.22. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president owned 188,872 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,359,320.24. This trade represents a 3.16% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 29,598 shares of company stock worth $952,572. Company insiders own 12.72% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts have recently commented on KMI shares. Weiss Ratings reissued a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Wolfe Research cut Kinder Morgan from a "strong-buy" rating to a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Friday, February 20th. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a "hold" rating for the company in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus price target of $34.20.

Kinder Morgan Company Profile

Kinder Morgan NYSE: KMI is a large energy infrastructure company that owns and operates an extensive network of pipelines and terminals across North America. Its core activities center on the transportation, storage and handling of energy products, including natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil, refined petroleum products and carbon dioxide. The company's assets include long-haul and gathering pipelines, storage facilities, and multi-modal terminals that serve producers, refiners, utilities and industrial customers.

Kinder Morgan's operations deliver midstream services such as pipeline transportation, terminaling, storage and related logistics and maintenance.

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