Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) Stock Position Raised by IFP Advisors Inc

IFP Advisors Inc grew its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 35.9% during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 78,813 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 20,840 shares during the quarter. IFP Advisors Inc's holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $2,249,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of KMI. Norges Bank acquired a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter worth about $917,523,000. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. lifted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 212.5% in the first quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 5,468,235 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $156,009,000 after acquiring an additional 3,718,521 shares in the last quarter. Blackstone Inc. boosted its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 435.0% in the fourth quarter. Blackstone Inc. now owns 4,358,263 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $119,416,000 after purchasing an additional 3,543,670 shares during the last quarter. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new position in Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter valued at about $87,729,000. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA boosted its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 223.9% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,465,980 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $94,968,000 after purchasing an additional 2,395,930 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.52% of the company's stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages recently commented on KMI. Cowen began coverage on Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Morgan Stanley set a $34.00 price target on Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday, July 7th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Finally, Barclays restated an "overweight" rating and set a $32.00 price objective (up previously from $31.00) on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Monday, June 23rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and eight have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kinder Morgan has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $31.00.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

KMI stock traded up $0.51 on Thursday, reaching $27.32. The company's stock had a trading volume of 9,239,225 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,320,101. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.68 and a 52 week high of $31.48. The company has a market capitalization of $60.71 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.42 and a beta of 0.75. The firm has a fifty day moving average of $27.97 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last issued 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 analyst estimates of $3.75 billion. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 8.31% and a net margin of 17.06%. The business's revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. As a group, analysts predict that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS 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. 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 4.28%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. Kinder Morgan's payout ratio is currently 95.90%.

Insider Transactions at Kinder Morgan

In other Kinder Morgan 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 transaction, the president directly owned 771,652 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $21,806,885.52. This trade represents a 2.28% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Insiders own 12.73% of the company's stock.

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.