Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) Shares Sold by Empower Advisory Group LLC

Key Points

• Empower Advisory Group LLC has reduced its stake in Kinder Morgan, Inc. by 27.4%, selling 1,037,499 shares and maintaining ownership of 2,753,144 shares valued at approximately $78.5 million.
• Wells Fargo & Company has increased its target price for Kinder Morgan shares from $33.00 to $34.00 and rated the company as "overweight," while Scotiabank and Barclays have also raised their price targets to $28.00.
• Kinder Morgan's latest quarterly earnings report showed revenue growth of 13.2% year-over-year, with earnings per share matching analysts' expectations at $0.28, and the company is set to pay a dividend of $0.2925 per share on August 15th.

Empower Advisory Group LLC cut its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 27.4% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 2,753,144 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 1,037,499 shares during the quarter. Empower Advisory Group LLC owned 0.12% of Kinder Morgan worth $78,547,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of KMI. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter worth about $308,000. Smith Moore & CO. bought a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the 4th quarter valued at approximately $215,000. KCM Investment Advisors LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 10.7% in the fourth quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 17,241 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $472,000 after acquiring an additional 1,673 shares during the period. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. lifted its stake in Kinder Morgan by 1.7% in the 4th quarter. Envestnet Asset Management Inc. now owns 4,510,846 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $123,597,000 after purchasing an additional 74,973 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp boosted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 0.4% during the 4th quarter. Peapack Gladstone Financial Corp now owns 181,045 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $4,960,000 after acquiring an additional 773 shares during the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on KMI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price target on Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research note on Monday, July 28th. Cowen initiated coverage on Kinder Morgan in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating on the stock. TD Cowen began coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $34.00 price objective for the company. Royal Bank Of Canada increased 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. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kinder Morgan currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $31.13.

Insider Activity at Kinder Morgan

In related news, CFO David Patrick Michels sold 40,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.19, for a total transaction of $1,127,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 159,428 shares in the company, valued at $4,494,275.32. This trade represents a 20.06% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, 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 sale, the president owned 771,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,806,885.52. This trade represents a 2.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 109,715 shares of company stock valued at $3,081,245 over the last ninety days. 12.73% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

KMI traded up $0.03 during trading on Thursday, reaching $26.78. The company's stock had a trading volume of 17,704,609 shares, compared to its average volume of 17,759,392. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $20.56 and a 1 year high of $31.48. The company has a market cap of $59.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.95, a PEG ratio of 3.37 and a beta of 0.78. The company has a quick ratio of 0.53, a current ratio of 0.68 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99. The firm has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.92 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.49.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last posted its 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 for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.75 billion. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 17.06% and a return on equity of 8.31%. Kinder Morgan's revenue was up 13.2% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.26 EPS. As a group, analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

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

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.