Close Asset Management Ltd Decreases Stock Position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Close Asset Management Ltd decreased its stake in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 98.6% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,090 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 75,470 shares during the period. Close Asset Management Ltd's holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $31,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in KMI. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter valued at about $308,000. Teacher Retirement System of Texas boosted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 782.4% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 118,000 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $3,233,000 after purchasing an additional 104,627 shares in the last quarter. American Century Companies Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 3.8% during the 4th quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 369,451 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $10,123,000 after purchasing an additional 13,367 shares in the last quarter. LPL Financial LLC boosted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 3,878,330 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $106,266,000 after purchasing an additional 135,668 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Congress Wealth Management LLC DE boosted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 2.8% during the 4th quarter. Congress Wealth Management LLC DE now owns 211,986 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $5,808,000 after purchasing an additional 5,675 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.52% of the company's stock.

Kinder Morgan Stock Down 0.1%

Shares of Kinder Morgan stock traded down $0.02 on Friday, hitting $27.40. The company had a trading volume of 15,215,811 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,770,045. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.89 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.46, a P/E/G ratio of 3.48 and a beta of 0.75. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.68 and a 1 year high of $31.48. The stock has a 50 day moving average of $27.95 and a 200-day moving average of $27.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.68.

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

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be given a dividend of $0.2925 per share. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.27%. The ex-dividend date is Thursday, July 31st. Kinder Morgan's payout ratio is 95.90%.

Insider Activity at Kinder Morgan

In related news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred 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 sale, the president directly owned 771,652 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $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 SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Insiders own 12.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts recently commented on the company. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on Kinder Morgan from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Cowen assumed coverage on Kinder Morgan in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $34.00 target price on Kinder Morgan in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $31.00.

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.