Alps Advisors Inc. Purchases 114,021 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Alps Advisors Inc. grew its position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 7.0% in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,752,158 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 114,021 shares during the period. Kinder Morgan accounts for 0.3% of Alps Advisors Inc.'s portfolio, making the stock its 29th largest holding. Alps Advisors Inc. owned about 0.08% of Kinder Morgan worth $49,989,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other large investors have also bought and sold shares of KMI. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter valued at $308,000. Assetmark Inc. grew its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 70.4% during the 4th quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 7,351 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $201,000 after acquiring an additional 3,038 shares during the last quarter. Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter worth about $4,176,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 2.5% during the fourth quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 419,050 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $11,482,000 after purchasing an additional 10,295 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 7.0% during the fourth quarter. Daiwa Securities Group Inc. now owns 289,877 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $7,942,000 after purchasing an additional 18,997 shares in the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, June 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.26, for a total value of $508,680.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president owned 771,652 shares in the company, valued at $21,806,885.52. This represents a 2.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Company insiders own 12.73% of the company's stock.

Kinder Morgan Trading Up 0.2%

Shares of KMI stock traded up $0.06 on Friday, hitting $27.85. The stock had a trading volume of 11,279,457 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,942,786. The company has a current ratio of 0.45, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a twelve month low of $19.68 and a twelve month high of $31.48. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $27.93 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $27.59. The firm has a market cap of $61.88 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.01, a PEG ratio of 3.00 and a beta of 0.75.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results 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 return on equity of 8.11% and a net margin of 16.67%. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.02 billion. As a group, analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.2925 per share. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.20%. 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. Kinder Morgan's dividend payout ratio is presently 100.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research analysts have commented on KMI shares. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. TD Cowen started coverage on Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday, July 7th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $34.00 price target on the stock. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Morgan Stanley set a $34.00 price target on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Monday, July 7th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have assigned a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Kinder Morgan 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.