Bank of Nova Scotia Sells 724,915 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Bank of Nova Scotia lessened its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 55.8% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 573,819 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 724,915 shares during the period. Bank of Nova Scotia's holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $16,371,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

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

Insider Activity

In other news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owned 771,652 shares in the company, valued at $21,806,885.52. This trade represents a 2.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, Director Amy W. Chronis bought 2,759 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, July 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $27.21 per share, for a total transaction of $75,072.39. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director directly owned 34,764 shares of the company's stock, valued at $945,928.44. The trade was a 8.62% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Corporate insiders own 12.73% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KMI. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company boosted their price target on Kinder Morgan from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, July 17th. Wolfe Research raised Kinder Morgan from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $31.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Finally, Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $32.00 target price (up previously from $31.00) on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kinder Morgan has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $31.13.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

Kinder Morgan stock opened at $28.09 on Monday. The business has a 50 day moving average of $27.96 and a 200-day moving average of $27.53. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.53. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.68 and a 1 year high of $31.48. The company has a market capitalization of $62.42 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.02, a P/E/G ratio of 3.54 and a beta of 0.78.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.28. The firm had revenue of $4.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.75 billion. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 17.06% and a return on equity of 8.31%. The company's revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a $0.2925 dividend. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. Kinder Morgan's payout ratio is 95.90%.

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.

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