Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) Shares Purchased by Principal Financial Group Inc.

Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its holdings in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 62.4% in the first quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 3,669,592 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 1,410,089 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. owned 0.17% of Kinder Morgan worth $104,693,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in KMI. Xponance Inc. lifted its stake in Kinder Morgan by 5.2% during the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 303,044 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $8,303,000 after purchasing an additional 15,114 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,265,044 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $62,062,000 after buying an additional 44,474 shares in the last quarter. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS acquired a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan during the 4th quarter valued at $21,774,000. Bridgewealth Advisory Group LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan during the 4th quarter worth $377,000. Finally, Unigestion Holding SA grew its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 22.3% in the 4th quarter. Unigestion Holding SA now owns 93,364 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $2,558,000 after acquiring an additional 16,993 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.52% of the company's stock.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the firm'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 transaction of $508,680.00. Following the transaction, the president 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 ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Corporate insiders own 12.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms recently weighed in on KMI. 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 research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays reiterated an "overweight" rating and issued a $32.00 target price (up from $31.00) on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Scotiabank boosted their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $30.29.

Kinder Morgan Stock Down 0.5%

KMI stock opened at $28.37 on Friday. The company has a 50 day moving average of $27.80 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.54. The company has a market cap of $63.03 billion, a price-to-earnings 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. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.45 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 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.34. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 8.11% and a net margin of 16.67%. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. On average, equities 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 declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a $0.2925 dividend. 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 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.12%. Kinder Morgan's payout ratio is presently 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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