Park Avenue Securities LLC Acquires 14,448 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Park Avenue Securities LLC boosted its position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 20.6% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 84,552 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 14,448 shares during the period. Park Avenue Securities LLC's holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $2,412,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Brighton Jones LLC acquired a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter valued at $308,000. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC increased its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 6.5% during the fourth quarter. Kingsview Wealth Management LLC now owns 58,858 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,613,000 after buying an additional 3,567 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC grew its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 29.2% during the 4th quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 223,395 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $6,121,000 after acquiring an additional 50,490 shares during the period. Quotient Wealth Partners LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter worth about $254,000. Finally, Stephens Inc. AR raised its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 27.5% during the 4th quarter. Stephens Inc. AR now owns 183,963 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $5,041,000 after acquiring an additional 39,695 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.52% of the company's stock.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

NYSE:KMI traded down $0.06 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $27.46. 2,839,507 shares of the company's stock traded hands, compared to its average volume of 13,973,197. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.49. The company has a market cap of $61.02 billion, a PE ratio of 23.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.74. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $19.47 and a 1 year high of $31.48. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $27.18 and its 200 day simple moving average is $27.45.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.34. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 17.31% and a return on equity of 8.09%. Sell-side analysts expect 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. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.2925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This is a boost from Kinder Morgan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.26%. Kinder Morgan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.86%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KMI has been the subject of a number of research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday, May 5th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price target on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Barclays upgraded shares of Kinder Morgan from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Kinder Morgan currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $30.21.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.57, for a total value of $496,260.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 789,652 shares in the company, valued at $21,770,705.64. This represents a 2.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Insiders have sold 54,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,522,440 over the last quarter. Insiders own 12.73% of the company's stock.

About Kinder Morgan

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.