Plato Investment Management Ltd Invests $307,000 in Kinder Morgan, Inc. $KMI

Key Points

• Plato Investment Management Ltd has invested approximately $307,000 in Kinder Morgan, acquiring 10,652 shares as per its recent SEC filing.
• Several institutional investors, including Sierra Ocean LLC and Grove Bank & Trust, significantly increased their stakes in Kinder Morgan, indicating strong interest in the company.
• Kinder Morgan's stock received multiple ratings upgrades, with JPMorgan Chase & Co. raising its target price from $30 to $32 and establishing a "neutral" rating.

Plato Investment Management Ltd acquired a new position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) in the first quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor acquired 10,652 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $307,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Sierra Ocean LLC increased its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 927.1% in the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 873 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $25,000 after purchasing an additional 788 shares in the last quarter. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter worth $26,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter worth $29,000. JNBA Financial Advisors increased its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 669.2% in the first quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors now owns 1,000 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $29,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Grove Bank & Trust increased its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 2,913.5% in the first quarter. Grove Bank & Trust now owns 1,115 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $32,000 after purchasing an additional 1,078 shares in the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KMI has been the subject of a number of research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. TD Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $34.00 price objective for the company. Cowen initiated coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating for the company. Scotiabank increased their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Barclays reissued an "overweight" rating and set a $32.00 price objective (up previously from $31.00) on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday, June 23rd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average price target of $31.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO David Patrick Michels sold 40,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Monday, August 4th. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.19, for a total value of $1,127,600.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 159,428 shares of the company's stock, valued at $4,494,275.32. This represents a 20.06% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Sital K. Mody sold 45,549 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction dated Friday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.96, for a total transaction of $1,273,550.04. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 128,008 shares of company stock worth $3,553,982. Company insiders own 12.73% of the company's stock.

Kinder Morgan Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of KMI opened at $27.56 on Friday. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 1-year low of $20.72 and a 1-year high of $31.48. The company has a 50-day moving average of $27.24 and a 200 day moving average of $27.34. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.59, a PEG ratio of 3.21 and a beta of 0.81. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a current ratio of 0.68 and a quick ratio of 0.53.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.28. The company had revenue of $4.04 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.75 billion. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 17.06% and a return on equity of 8.31%. Kinder Morgan's revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period last year, the company posted $0.26 earnings per share. Kinder Morgan has set its FY 2025 guidance at 1.270-1.270 EPS. On average, research analysts expect that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were issued a $0.2925 dividend. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.2%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Thursday, July 31st. Kinder Morgan's dividend payout ratio is 95.90%.

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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