State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D Sells 46,590 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Key Points

• The State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D has reduced its stake in Kinder Morgan, Inc. by 6.5%, now holding 670,607 shares valued at approximately $19.1 million.
• Insiders of Kinder Morgan, including VP Sital K. Mody and EVP Dax Sanders, have sold a total of 139,842 shares worth nearly $3.9 million over the last ninety days, indicating notable insider selling activity.
• Kinder Morgan recently announced a quarterly dividend payout of $0.2925 per share, which represents a 4.4% yield and a payout ratio of 95.90%.

State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D decreased its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 6.5% in the 1st quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 670,607 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 46,590 shares during the period. State of New Jersey Common Pension Fund D's holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $19,132,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in KMI. Sierra Ocean LLC increased its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 927.1% during the first quarter. Sierra Ocean LLC now owns 873 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $25,000 after acquiring an additional 788 shares in the last quarter. Fourth Dimension Wealth LLC bought a new position in Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter valued at $26,000. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter valued at $27,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter valued at $29,000. Finally, JNBA Financial Advisors grew its position in Kinder Morgan by 669.2% in the first quarter. JNBA Financial Advisors now owns 1,000 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $29,000 after purchasing an additional 870 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.52% of the company's stock.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kinder Morgan news, 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 value of $1,273,550.04. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, EVP Dax Sanders sold 30,127 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.05, for a total transaction of $814,935.35. Following the completion of the sale, the executive vice president owned 292,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,898,600. This trade represents a 9.35% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 139,842 shares of company stock worth $3,896,180. 12.73% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

NYSE KMI opened at $26.69 on Friday. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $27.74 and a 200-day moving average of $27.37. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.99, a quick ratio of 0.53 and a current ratio of 0.68. The stock has a market cap of $59.31 billion, a PE ratio of 21.88, a P/E/G ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.78. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $20.56 and a 52-week high of $31.48.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.28 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.28. The company had revenue of $4.04 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $3.75 billion. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 17.06% and a return on equity of 8.31%. Kinder Morgan's quarterly revenue was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.26 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, August 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, July 31st were paid a $0.2925 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, July 31st. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.4%. Kinder Morgan's payout ratio is 95.90%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KMI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Barclays reaffirmed an "overweight" rating and issued a $32.00 target price (up previously from $31.00) on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Monday, June 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a research note on Thursday, July 17th. Royal Bank Of Canada increased their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Scotiabank increased their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Friday, July 18th. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Thursday. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have issued a buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, Kinder Morgan currently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $31.20.

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.

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