Rakuten Investment Management Inc. Grows Stake in Kinder Morgan, Inc. $KMI

Key Points

• Rakuten Investment Management dramatically increased its Kinder Morgan stake by 235.1% in the fourth quarter, ending with 259,329 shares valued at about $7.1 million.
• Kinder Morgan reported better-than-expected quarterly results, with EPS of $0.48 versus estimates of $0.38 and revenue of $4.83 billion, while revenue rose 13.8% year over year.
• The company also raised its dividend to $0.2975 per share quarterly, giving it an annualized yield of about 3.8%; meanwhile, analysts currently rate the stock a Moderate Buy with an average target price of $34.53.

Rakuten Investment Management Inc. boosted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 235.1% during the 4th quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 259,329 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 181,951 shares during the period. Rakuten Investment Management Inc.'s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $7,100,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P lifted its position in Kinder Morgan by 13.0% during the fourth quarter. Loomis Sayles & Co. L P now owns 2,860 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $79,000 after purchasing an additional 329 shares in the last quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust lifted its position in Kinder Morgan by 4.1% during the fourth quarter. Parkside Financial Bank & Trust now owns 8,445 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $232,000 after purchasing an additional 333 shares in the last quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC lifted its position in Kinder Morgan by 1.3% during the fourth quarter. Waddell & Associates LLC now owns 26,206 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $720,000 after purchasing an additional 336 shares in the last quarter. Abbot Financial Management Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 0.8% in the fourth quarter. Abbot Financial Management Inc. now owns 44,707 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,229,000 after acquiring an additional 338 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Personal CFO Solutions LLC lifted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 4.5% in the fourth quarter. Personal CFO Solutions LLC now owns 7,896 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $217,000 after acquiring an additional 340 shares in the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kinder Morgan Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:KMI opened at $31.41 on Wednesday. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $25.60 and a 1 year high of $34.81. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $32.21 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $30.84. The firm has a market capitalization of $69.88 billion, a PE ratio of 21.08, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.62 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a current ratio of 0.52 and a quick ratio of 0.41.

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

Kinder Morgan Increases Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a dividend of $0.2975 per share. This is an increase from Kinder Morgan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. This represents a $1.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.8%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. Kinder Morgan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 79.87%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kinder Morgan news, VP John W. Schlosser sold 6,166 shares of the company's stock in a transaction on Friday, June 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.83, for a total transaction of $196,263.78. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 170,374 shares in the company, valued at $5,423,004.42. This represents a 3.49% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP Michael P. Garthwaite sold 1,550 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 43,293 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,456,809.45. The trade was a 3.46% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 21,598 shares of company stock valued at $700,474. 12.72% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KMI has been the topic of several research analyst reports. Zacks Research upgraded Kinder Morgan from a "hold" rating to a "strong-buy" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 28th. The Goldman Sachs Group restated a "buy" rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Wednesday, June 10th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research report on Friday, March 13th. Jefferies Financial Group lowered their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a "hold" rating on the stock in a research report on Thursday, April 23rd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $31.00 to $37.00 and gave the company an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Two equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, seven have given a Buy rating and ten have assigned a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and an average target price of $34.53.

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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