Quantitative Investment Management LLC Acquires 35,518 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. $KMI

Key Points

• Quantitative Investment Management LLC boosted its Kinder Morgan stake by 107.4% in Q3, purchasing 35,518 shares to hold 68,597 shares valued at about $1.94 million.
• Kinder Morgan beat the quarter with $0.39 EPS and $4.51B revenue (up 13.1% YoY) and pays a $0.2925 quarterly dividend (annualized $1.17) for a roughly 3.5% yield, though its payout ratio is high (~85%).
• Company insiders have been net sellers recently (46,498 shares sold over three months), while analysts maintain a consensus of "Moderate Buy" with an average target near $33.08.

Quantitative Investment Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 107.4% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 68,597 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 35,518 shares during the period. Quantitative Investment Management LLC's holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $1,941,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other institutional investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Davis Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan in the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,426,000. Providence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the third quarter worth about $2,674,000. Meixler Investment Management Ltd. bought a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the third quarter worth about $1,882,000. HighTower Advisors LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 3.9% in the third quarter. HighTower Advisors LLC now owns 1,231,845 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $34,874,000 after acquiring an additional 46,396 shares during the period. Finally, Cibc World Market Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 12.9% in the third quarter. Cibc World Market Inc. now owns 869,127 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $24,605,000 after acquiring an additional 99,540 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.52% of the company's stock.

Kinder Morgan Trading Up 0.8%

Shares of KMI stock opened at $33.36 on Friday. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.94 and a fifty-two week high of $34.24. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock has a 50 day simple moving average of $30.61 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $28.31. The company has a market cap of $74.22 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.35, a PEG ratio of 3.05 and a beta of 0.68.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.51 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.33 billion. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 18.04%.The company's revenue for the quarter was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.30 EPS. Research analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were paid a dividend of $0.2925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 3.5%. Kinder Morgan's dividend payout ratio is currently 85.40%.

Insider Activity at Kinder Morgan

In other news, VP Anthony B. Ashley sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total transaction of $255,600.00. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 100,146 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,199,664.70. This represents a 7.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, CFO David Patrick Michels sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer owned 139,428 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,182,840. This represents a 12.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Over the last three months, insiders have sold 46,498 shares of company stock valued at $1,418,248. Company insiders own 12.73% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of research firms have weighed in on KMI. Freedom Capital raised shares of Kinder Morgan from a "strong sell" rating to a "hold" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Barclays restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Friday, February 20th. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a "buy (b)" rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. UBS Group reiterated a "buy" rating and set a $38.00 price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Jefferies Financial Group lifted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $33.08.

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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