Columbus Macro LLC Acquires 23,520 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Columbus Macro LLC increased its holdings in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 7.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 343,461 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 23,520 shares during the period. Kinder Morgan makes up 1.3% of Columbus Macro LLC's investment portfolio, making the stock its 13th biggest holding. Columbus Macro LLC's holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $9,799,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of KMI. Xponance Inc. raised its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 303,044 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $8,303,000 after buying an additional 15,114 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its stake in Kinder Morgan by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,265,044 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $62,062,000 after acquiring an additional 44,474 shares during the period. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC bought a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter valued at about $385,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS bought a new stake in Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter worth about $21,774,000. Finally, Bridgewealth Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter worth about $377,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.52% of the company's stock.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several analysts have weighed in on KMI shares. Royal Bank of Canada upped their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday, May 5th. Barclays raised shares of Kinder Morgan from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $31.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus lifted their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have assigned a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $30.21.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

Shares of KMI stock opened at $27.61 on Monday. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.47 and a 52 week high of $31.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.49. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.28 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.43. The company has a market capitalization of $61.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.59, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.74.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 during 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, sell-side analysts predict 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. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a $0.2925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This is a boost from Kinder Morgan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.24%. Kinder Morgan's payout ratio is presently 100.86%.

Insider Activity

In related news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.57, for a total transaction of $496,260.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 789,652 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,770,705.64. The trade was a 2.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 54,000 shares of company stock worth $1,522,440. 12.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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.

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