Clarus Wealth Advisors Acquires Shares of 9,300 Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Clarus Wealth Advisors acquired a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm acquired 9,300 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $244,000.

A number of other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 0.7% during the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 202,846,078 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $5,557,983,000 after purchasing an additional 1,469,759 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 51,759,844 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,414,813,000 after purchasing an additional 1,252,609 shares during the period. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Kinder Morgan during the 4th quarter valued at about $917,523,000. Northern Trust Corp increased its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 8.3% during the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 20,942,841 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $573,834,000 after purchasing an additional 1,608,499 shares during the period. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG increased its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 16.8% during the 4th quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 14,711,722 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $403,101,000 after purchasing an additional 2,116,576 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.52% of the company's stock.

Kinder Morgan Stock Up 0.6%

NYSE KMI traded up $0.18 during mid-day trading on Thursday, reaching $28.21. The stock had a trading volume of 10,533,843 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,976,762. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.47 and a 1 year high of $31.48. The stock has a market cap of $62.67 billion, a PE ratio of 24.11, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $27.19 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.39.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.34. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.02 billion. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 17.31% and a return on equity of 8.09%. On average, research analysts expect that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a $0.2925 dividend. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.15%. This is a positive change from Kinder Morgan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Kinder Morgan's dividend payout ratio is currently 100.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kinder Morgan

In other news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.75, for a total transaction of $517,500.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 807,652 shares in the company, valued at $23,219,995. This trade represents a 2.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders own 12.73% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of research analysts recently issued reports on KMI shares. Scotiabank boosted their price target on Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday. Finally, Barclays raised Kinder Morgan from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $31.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kinder Morgan currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $30.21.

About Kinder Morgan

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.