Sapient Capital LLC Makes New $21.42 Million Investment in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Sapient Capital LLC acquired a new position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) during the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 750,858 shares of the pipeline company's stock, valued at approximately $21,422,000.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Xponance Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 303,044 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $8,303,000 after purchasing an additional 15,114 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 2.0% in the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,265,044 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $62,062,000 after purchasing an additional 44,474 shares during the period. Chung Wu Investment Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $385,000. KLP Kapitalforvaltning AS purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $21,774,000. Finally, Bridgewealth Advisory Group LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter worth approximately $377,000. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.52% of the company's stock.

Insider Transactions at Kinder Morgan

In other news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the company's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, June 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.26, for a total value of $508,680.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 771,652 shares in the company, valued at $21,806,885.52. This represents a 2.28% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 54,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,522,440. Corporate insiders own 12.73% of the company's stock.

Kinder Morgan Stock Down 0.2%

Shares of KMI stock traded down $0.05 during mid-day trading on Friday, hitting $27.61. The stock had a trading volume of 13,024,872 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,033,395. The firm has a market capitalization of $61.34 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.59, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.39. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 12-month low of $19.47 and a 12-month high of $31.48. The firm's 50-day moving average is $27.28 and its two-hundred day moving average is $27.44.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.34. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 17.31%. On average, analysts predict that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were given a $0.2925 dividend. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.24%. This is a positive change from Kinder Morgan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. Kinder Morgan's payout ratio is presently 100.86%.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on KMI. Barclays upgraded Kinder Morgan from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $31.00 price objective for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Stifel Nicolaus boosted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $30.21.

Kinder Morgan Company 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.