Centre Asset Management LLC Sells 353,483 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Centre Asset Management LLC trimmed its position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 87.9% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 48,645 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 353,483 shares during the period. Centre Asset Management LLC's holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $1,388,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter valued at about $917,523,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter worth approximately $157,804,000. Blackstone Inc. lifted its position in Kinder Morgan by 435.0% during the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 4,358,263 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $119,416,000 after purchasing an additional 3,543,670 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new position in Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $87,729,000. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 11,819,777 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $334,381,000 after buying an additional 2,650,040 shares during the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on KMI. Scotiabank raised their price target on Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Barclays raised shares of Kinder Morgan from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $31.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $29.79.

Kinder Morgan Stock Up 0.4%

NYSE KMI traded up $0.11 during trading hours on Friday, reaching $28.03. 15,718,257 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 14,021,311. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.99 and a 52-week high of $31.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.19 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.43. The firm has a market cap of $62.28 billion, a PE ratio of 23.96, a PEG ratio of 3.08 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.34. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 17.31% and a return on equity of 8.09%. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.2925 per share. 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 yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Kinder Morgan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.61, for a total value of $478,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 825,652 shares in the company, valued at $21,970,599.72. The trade was a 2.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,492,740. Insiders own 12.73% of the company's stock.

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.