Eastern Bank Acquires 78,474 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Key Points

• Eastern Bank significantly increased its stake in Kinder Morgan, Inc. by 93.4%, acquiring an additional 78,474 shares to own a total of 162,487 shares valued at approximately $4.6 million.
• Kinder Morgan reported a Q2 revenue of $4.04 billion, exceeding expectations of $3.75 billion, with an earnings per share (EPS) of $0.28.
• The company declared a quarterly dividend of $0.2925 per share, translating to an annualized dividend yield of 4.17%, with a high payout ratio of 95.90%.

Eastern Bank grew its stake in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 93.4% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 162,487 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 78,474 shares during the quarter. Eastern Bank's holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $4,636,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Morton Capital Management LLC CA boosted its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 1.0% in the first quarter. Morton Capital Management LLC CA now owns 37,981 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,084,000 after buying an additional 377 shares during the period. Diligent Investors LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 1.5% in the fourth quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 26,083 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $715,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. Signaturefd LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 1.8% in the first quarter. Signaturefd LLC now owns 21,068 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $601,000 after buying an additional 381 shares during the period. Aspiriant LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 1.7% in the first quarter. Aspiriant LLC now owns 23,738 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $677,000 after buying an additional 396 shares during the period. Finally, Sowell Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 0.5% in the first quarter. Sowell Financial Services LLC now owns 79,825 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $2,277,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.52% of the company's stock.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE KMI traded up $0.15 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $28.03. 18,111,872 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 14,476,546. The stock's 50-day moving average price is $27.94 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.57. The stock has a market cap of $62.28 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.98, a PEG ratio of 3.53 and a beta of 0.75. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a one year low of $19.68 and a one year high of $31.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last announced 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. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 8.31% and a net margin of 17.06%. The company had revenue of $4.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.75 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. Kinder Morgan's revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The company 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. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.17%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. Kinder Morgan's payout ratio is 95.90%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kinder Morgan news, Director Amy W. Chronis purchased 2,759 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The stock was purchased 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 of the company's stock, valued at approximately $945,928.44. The trade was a 8.62% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction 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 in the company, valued at approximately $21,806,885.52. This represents a 2.28% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on KMI shares. Wolfe Research upgraded shares of Kinder Morgan from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $31.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Friday, July 25th. Cowen assumed coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating on the stock. Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $32.00 price target (up from $31.00) on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday, June 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday. Finally, Scotiabank increased their price target on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Friday, July 18th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kinder Morgan has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $31.13.

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.