Commonwealth Equity Services LLC Acquires 18,884 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Key Points

• Commonwealth Equity Services LLC increased its stake in Kinder Morgan, Inc. by 2.1% during the first quarter, bringing its total holdings to $25.73 million.
• Several institutional investors significantly adjusted their positions in Kinder Morgan, with Sierra Ocean LLC experiencing a notable 927.1% increase in its holdings.
• Kinder Morgan recently declared a quarterly dividend of $0.2925 per share, translating to an annualized yield of 4.4% and a payout ratio of 95.90%.

Commonwealth Equity Services LLC raised its stake in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 2.1% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 901,679 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 18,884 shares during the period. Commonwealth Equity Services LLC's holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $25,725,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Sierra Ocean LLC raised its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 927.1% in the 1st quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 873 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $25,000 after acquiring an additional 788 shares in the last quarter. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC acquired a new position in Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter valued at $26,000. Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter valued at $27,000. JNBA Financial Advisors raised its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 669.2% in the 1st quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors now owns 1,000 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $29,000 after acquiring an additional 870 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC acquired a new position in Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter valued at $29,000. 62.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, Director Amy W. Chronis purchased 2,759 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was bought at an average price of $27.21 per share, with a total value of $75,072.39. Following the completion of the purchase, the director owned 34,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $945,928.44. This represents a 8.62% increase in their position. The acquisition was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.26, for a total value 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. The trade was a 2.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 109,715 shares of company stock valued at $3,081,245. Corporate insiders own 12.73% of the company's stock.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

KMI stock traded up $0.03 during midday trading on Thursday, reaching $26.78. 17,704,609 shares of the stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 17,759,392. The stock has a market capitalization of $59.50 billion, a PE ratio of 21.95, a P/E/G ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.78. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $20.56 and a 52 week high of $31.48. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.53. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $27.92 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.49.

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

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be paid a $0.2925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.4%. Kinder Morgan's dividend payout ratio is presently 95.90%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on KMI shares. Wolfe Research raised Kinder Morgan from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $31.00 price target for the company in a report on Friday, July 25th. 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price target on Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, July 28th. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $32.00 price target (up previously from $31.00) on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $34.00 price target on Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday, July 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $31.13.

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.