Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. Buys 581,065 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. $KMI

Key Points

• Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management sharply increased its Kinder Morgan stake by 174.8% in Q4, buying 581,065 additional shares and bringing its total holdings to 913,539 shares worth about $25.1 million.
• Several analysts turned more constructive on KMI, with recent target-price increases from RBC and Citigroup and new upgrades from Weiss Ratings and Zacks Research. The stock now carries a consensus rating of Moderate Buy with an average price target of $34.20.
• Kinder Morgan reported stronger-than-expected quarterly results, posting $0.48 EPS on revenue of $4.83 billion, and also raised its quarterly dividend to $0.2975 per share, implying a 3.5% annualized yield.

Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co. raised its stake in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 174.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 913,539 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 581,065 shares during the period. Northwestern Mutual Wealth Management Co.'s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $25,113,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Personal CFO Solutions LLC boosted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 7,896 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $217,000 after purchasing an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC boosted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 2.2% during the 4th quarter. Red Door Wealth Management LLC now owns 17,772 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $489,000 after purchasing an additional 389 shares in the last quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC boosted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 5.6% during the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Wealth Management Advisory Group LLC now owns 7,564 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $208,000 after purchasing an additional 399 shares in the last quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC boosted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 1.6% during the 4th quarter. Sagespring Wealth Partners LLC now owns 26,503 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $729,000 after purchasing an additional 405 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 22.4% during the 4th quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 2,266 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $62,000 after purchasing an additional 414 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.52% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KMI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Kinder Morgan from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Citigroup upped their target price on Kinder Morgan from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings upgraded Kinder Morgan from a "buy (b)" rating to a "buy (a-)" rating in a research report on Monday, May 4th. Finally, Zacks Research raised Kinder Morgan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 28th. Two investment analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, six have issued a Buy rating and ten have issued a Hold rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kinder Morgan currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $34.20.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other news, VP Michael P. Garthwaite sold 1,550 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, May 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.65, for a total value of $52,157.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 43,293 shares of the company's stock, valued at $1,456,809.45. This represents a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 6,166 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.93, for a total value of $203,046.38. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 182,706 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $6,016,508.58. This trade represents a 3.26% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 23,148 shares of company stock worth $763,434. 12.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Kinder Morgan Stock Up 1.7%

KMI stock opened at $34.36 on Wednesday. The stock's 50 day simple moving average is $32.75 and its 200 day simple moving average is $30.09. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $25.60 and a fifty-two week high of $34.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.52. The company has a market cap of $76.44 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.06, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.89 and a beta of 0.56.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The pipeline company reported $0.48 earnings per share for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.10. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 9.90% and a net margin of 18.92%.The business had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.34 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Kinder Morgan has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.360-1.360 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were paid a dividend of $0.2975 per share. This is an increase from Kinder Morgan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $1.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.5%. Kinder Morgan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.87%.

About Kinder Morgan

Kinder Morgan NYSE: KMI is a large energy infrastructure company that owns and operates an extensive network of pipelines and terminals across North America. Its core activities center on the transportation, storage and handling of energy products, including natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil, refined petroleum products and carbon dioxide. The company's assets include long-haul and gathering pipelines, storage facilities, and multi-modal terminals that serve producers, refiners, utilities and industrial customers.

Kinder Morgan's operations deliver midstream services such as pipeline transportation, terminaling, storage and related logistics and maintenance.

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