Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. Sells 280,767 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. $KMI

Key Points

• Sumitomo Mitsui Trust sold 280,767 shares of Kinder Morgan, trimming its stake by 5.7% to 4,640,291 shares valued at about $127.56 million at quarter-end.
• Kinder Morgan beat Q4 expectations with $0.39 EPS (vs. $0.37 est.) and $4.51B revenue (vs. $4.33B), while declaring a quarterly dividend that annualizes to $1.17 (a 3.7% yield) and a payout ratio of 85.4%.
• Institutional investors own 62.52% of the stock, insiders sold 48,048 shares (~$1.5M) in the past 90 days, and the Street’s consensus rating is a "Hold" with an average price target of $34.33.

Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lessened its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 5.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 4,640,291 shares of the pipeline company's stock after selling 280,767 shares during the quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. owned about 0.21% of Kinder Morgan worth $127,562,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other large investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Board of the Pension Protection Fund bought a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Dorato Capital Management bought a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan during the 4th quarter valued at about $30,000. Strategic Advocates LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan during the 3rd quarter valued at about $32,000. Lodestone Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan during the 4th quarter valued at about $33,000. Finally, Private Wealth Management Group LLC raised its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 94.9% during the 3rd quarter. Private Wealth Management Group LLC now owns 1,222 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $35,000 after buying an additional 595 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.52% of the company's stock.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

Shares of NYSE KMI opened at $32.02 on Tuesday. The stock has a market cap of $71.24 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.37, a P/E/G ratio of 2.98 and a beta of 0.64. The company has a current ratio of 0.64, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 1-year low of $25.42 and a 1-year high of $34.73. The stock's 50-day moving average is $32.76 and its 200 day moving average is $29.28.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts' consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.02. The business 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 business's quarterly revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the firm earned $0.30 EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were paid a $0.2925 dividend. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 3.7%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. Kinder Morgan's payout ratio is 85.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KMI has been the topic of a number of research reports. Citigroup raised their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a report on Monday, March 30th. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an "equal weight" rating in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. TD Cowen raised their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Eight analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and nine have given a Hold rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Kinder Morgan presently has a consensus rating of "Hold" and an average price target of $34.33.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kinder Morgan news, VP Anthony B. Ashley sold 8,000 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total value of $255,600.00. Following the transaction, the vice president directly owned 100,146 shares of the company's stock, valued at $3,199,664.70. The trade was a 7.40% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP Michael P. Garthwaite sold 1,550 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, March 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.30, for a total value of $51,615.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 46,393 shares in the company, valued at $1,544,886.90. This trade represents a 3.23% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last ninety days, insiders sold 48,048 shares of company stock worth $1,503,406. 12.73% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

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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