Asset Management One Co. Ltd. Boosts Stock Position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Asset Management One Co. Ltd. lifted its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 9.3% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 996,681 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 84,771 shares during the period. Asset Management One Co. Ltd.'s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $28,435,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of KMI. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter worth approximately $308,000. Wealthspire Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter worth approximately $225,000. Howard Capital Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 5.5% during the fourth quarter. Howard Capital Management Inc. now owns 13,752 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $377,000 after acquiring an additional 715 shares during the last quarter. Forvis Mazars Wealth Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter worth approximately $408,000. Finally, CWS Financial Advisors LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter worth approximately $227,000. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts recently weighed in on the company. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Scotiabank increased their price target on Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and set a $32.00 price target (up from $31.00) on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $30.29.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

Kinder Morgan stock traded up $0.59 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $28.90. The company's stock had a trading volume of 12,443,760 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,031,115. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $19.47 and a fifty-two week high of $31.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.45. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $27.52 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.45. The firm has a market capitalization of $64.21 billion, a PE ratio of 24.91, a P/E/G ratio of 3.13 and a beta of 0.74.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.02 billion. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 8.11% and a net margin of 16.67%. On average, equities research analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.2925 per share. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.05%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This is an increase from Kinder Morgan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kinder Morgan's payout ratio is 100.86%.

Insider Transactions at Kinder Morgan

In other news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.26, for a total transaction of $508,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 771,652 shares of the company's stock, valued at $21,806,885.52. The trade was a 2.28% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold 54,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,522,440 in the last 90 days. 12.73% of the stock is currently owned by 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.