Westwood Holdings Group Inc. Buys 2,261,924 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 66.8% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 5,647,705 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 2,261,924 shares during the period. Kinder Morgan comprises about 1.2% of Westwood Holdings Group Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 11th largest position. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. owned approximately 0.25% of Kinder Morgan worth $154,747,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Wexford Capital LP acquired a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter worth $515,000. Tidal Investments LLC increased its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 911.9% during the fourth quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 498,713 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $13,665,000 after acquiring an additional 449,430 shares in the last quarter. State of Wyoming increased its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 73.5% during the fourth quarter. State of Wyoming now owns 7,815 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $214,000 after acquiring an additional 3,311 shares in the last quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. increased its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 29.0% during the fourth quarter. Strategic Wealth Partners Ltd. now owns 344,359 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $9,146,000 after acquiring an additional 77,396 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Second Line Capital LLC increased its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 39.2% during the fourth quarter. Second Line Capital LLC now owns 15,485 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $424,000 after acquiring an additional 4,358 shares in the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, April 21st. Truist Financial raised their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group lifted their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kinder Morgan currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $29.79.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

Shares of KMI traded down $0.51 during midday trading on Wednesday, reaching $27.47. The stock had a trading volume of 11,806,722 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,961,748. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.22 and a 200-day simple moving average of $27.35. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a one year low of $18.83 and a one year high of $31.48. The firm has a market cap of $61.05 billion, a PE ratio of 23.48, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 17.31% and a return on equity of 8.09%. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.02 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a $0.2925 dividend. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.26%. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This is an increase from Kinder Morgan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kinder Morgan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.86%.

Insider Activity

In related news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.75, for a total transaction of $517,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 807,652 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $23,219,995. The trade was a 2.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Insiders sold a total of 54,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,492,740 in the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.73% of the company's stock.

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.