Montchanin Asset Management LLC Sells 11,500 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Montchanin Asset Management LLC cut its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 3.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 285,095 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 11,500 shares during the quarter. Kinder Morgan accounts for about 7.6% of Montchanin Asset Management LLC's holdings, making the stock its 3rd biggest holding. Montchanin Asset Management LLC's holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $7,812,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).

Several other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KMI. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Kinder Morgan by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 202,846,078 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $5,557,983,000 after purchasing an additional 1,469,759 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its position in Kinder Morgan by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 51,759,844 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,414,813,000 after buying an additional 1,252,609 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter worth $917,523,000. Northern Trust Corp raised its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 8.3% in the fourth quarter. Northern Trust Corp now owns 20,942,841 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $573,834,000 after acquiring an additional 1,608,499 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Deutsche Bank AG grew its stake in Kinder Morgan by 16.8% in the fourth quarter. Deutsche Bank AG now owns 14,711,722 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $403,101,000 after purchasing an additional 2,116,576 shares during the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kinder Morgan Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:KMI traded down $0.06 during trading on Thursday, hitting $27.90. 7,313,741 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,955,917. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.83 and a 52 week high of $31.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a market cap of $61.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $27.22 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.42.

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 for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.34. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 17.31%. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.02 billion. As a group, research analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $0.2925 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This is a positive change 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 4.19%. Kinder Morgan's payout ratio is presently 100.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.75, for a total transaction of $517,500.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly 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 transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders have sold 54,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,492,740. 12.73% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KMI has been the subject of several recent research reports. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Barclays upgraded Kinder Morgan from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $31.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Wells Fargo & Company reissued an "overweight" rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Citigroup raised their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company's stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $29.79.

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.