Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Purchases 32,531 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund raised its position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 136.4% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 56,375 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 32,531 shares during the quarter. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund's holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $1,608,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC purchased a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter worth about $26,000. Morse Asset Management Inc purchased a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter worth about $27,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter worth about $29,000. 62.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently weighed in on KMI shares. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $30.21.

Insider Activity

In other Kinder Morgan news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.57, for a total value of $496,260.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 789,652 shares in the company, valued at $21,770,705.64. This trade represents a 2.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 54,000 shares of company stock worth $1,522,440. Corporate insiders own 12.73% of the company's stock.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

NYSE KMI opened at $28.01 on Monday. 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's 50 day moving average price is $27.44 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.43. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $19.47 and a 52-week high of $31.48. The company has a market cap of $62.23 billion, a PE ratio of 24.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.74.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 8.11%. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.02 billion. Sell-side analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.2925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This is an increase from Kinder Morgan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.18%. Kinder Morgan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 100.86%.

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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