GF Fund Management CO. LTD. Acquires New Position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

GF Fund Management CO. LTD. purchased a new position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm purchased 25,148 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $717,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the stock. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the 4th quarter worth about $917,523,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $157,804,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. boosted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 212.5% during the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,468,235 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $156,009,000 after buying an additional 3,718,521 shares during the period. Blackstone Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 435.0% during the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 4,358,263 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $119,416,000 after buying an additional 3,543,670 shares during the period. Finally, Artisan Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $87,729,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.52% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the 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 owned 771,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,806,885.52. This represents a 2.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. 12.73% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Kinder Morgan Stock Down 0.2%

Kinder Morgan stock traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Monday, reaching $28.36. 9,336,001 shares of the company were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,955,976. The business has a fifty day moving average of $27.83 and a 200 day moving average of $27.57. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a current ratio of 0.45. The firm has a market cap of $63.02 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.45, a PEG ratio of 3.12 and a beta of 0.75. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 12-month low of $19.68 and a 12-month high of $31.48.

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 analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.02 billion. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 8.11% and a net margin of 16.67%. Research analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.2925 per share. This is a boost from Kinder Morgan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.13%. Kinder Morgan's dividend payout ratio is presently 100.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $34.00 target price on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Monday. Stifel Nicolaus boosted 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Cowen began coverage on Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an "overweight" rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday, May 5th. Seven equities research 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, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $30.40.

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.