Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Purchases 54,018 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Key Points

• Empirical Financial Services increased its holdings in Kinder Morgan, Inc. by 252.5%, acquiring an additional 54,018 shares, bringing their total ownership to 75,412 shares valued at $2.15 million.
• Kinder Morgan reported $4.04 billion in revenue for the last quarter, exceeding estimates, with earnings per share matching analyst expectations at $0.28.
• The company announced a quarterly dividend of $0.2925 per share, with an annualized yield of 4.2%, set to be paid on August 15th.

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management increased its position in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 252.5% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 75,412 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 54,018 shares during the quarter. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management's holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $2,151,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Northern Trust Corp lifted its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 8.3% in the 4th quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 20,942,841 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $573,834,000 after purchasing an additional 1,608,499 shares in the last quarter. Deutsche Bank AG raised its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 16.8% during the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 14,711,722 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $403,101,000 after buying an additional 2,116,576 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP raised its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 5.4% during the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 10,786,581 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $307,741,000 after buying an additional 553,395 shares during the last quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. lifted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 22.6% in the fourth quarter. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. now owns 8,195,545 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $224,556,000 after buying an additional 1,512,083 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Castle Hook Partners LP grew its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 4.5% during the fourth quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 7,953,656 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $217,930,000 after buying an additional 341,749 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.52% of the company's stock.

Kinder Morgan Trading Up 0.1%

NYSE KMI opened at $28.03 on Friday. The business's fifty day moving average is $27.95 and its 200-day moving average is $27.56. 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 stock has a market capitalization of $62.29 billion, a price-to-earnings 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.

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

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a dividend of $0.2925 per share. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. Kinder Morgan's dividend payout ratio is 95.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KMI has been the topic of a number of analyst reports. Morgan Stanley set a $34.00 target price on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday, July 7th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday. Wolfe Research upgraded 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. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Kinder Morgan from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, July 17th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kinder Morgan has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $31.13.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kinder Morgan

In other Kinder Morgan news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was 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 $21,806,885.52. This trade represents a 2.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, Director Amy W. Chronis purchased 2,759 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 28th. The shares were purchased at an average cost of $27.21 per share, for a total transaction of $75,072.39. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 34,764 shares in the company, valued at approximately $945,928.44. The trade was a 8.62% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Kinder Morgan 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.

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