Townsquare Capital LLC Purchases 16,423 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Key Points

• Townsquare Capital LLC increased its stake in Kinder Morgan by 19.8%, acquiring an additional 16,423 shares, bringing its total holdings to 99,425 shares valued at approximately $2.84 million.
• Brokerage firms have revised their target prices for Kinder Morgan, with Royal Bank of Canada and Wells Fargo both setting their targets at $28.00 and $34.00 respectively, reflecting a general optimism about the company's stock.
• Kinder Morgan has announced a quarterly dividend of $0.2925 per share, which translates to an annualized yield of 4.3%, with a payout ratio of 95.90%.

Townsquare Capital LLC grew its position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 19.8% in the 1st quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 99,425 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 16,423 shares during the quarter. Townsquare Capital LLC's holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $2,837,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

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

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the stock. Scotiabank lifted 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 report on Friday, July 18th. Wolfe Research raised shares of Kinder Morgan from a "peer perform" rating to an "outperform" rating and set a $31.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 25th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a "neutral" rating in a research report on Monday, July 28th. TD Cowen started coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Monday, July 7th. They set a "buy" rating and a $34.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and nine have given a buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $31.20.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, VP John W. Schlosser sold 6,166 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.80, for a total value of $171,414.80. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 232,034 shares of the company's stock, valued at $6,450,545.20. The trade was a 2.59% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, EVP Dax Sanders sold 30,127 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.05, for a total value of $814,935.35. Following the completion of the transaction, the executive vice president directly owned 292,000 shares of the company's stock, valued at $7,898,600. This represents a 9.35% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 139,842 shares of company stock valued at $3,896,180 over the last three months. Company insiders own 12.73% of the company's stock.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

Shares of NYSE:KMI traded down $0.15 on Friday, hitting $26.71. The stock had a trading volume of 7,678,578 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,614,277. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a twelve month low of $20.56 and a twelve month high of $31.48. 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 firm's 50 day moving average price is $27.77 and its 200-day moving average price is $27.38. The company has a market capitalization of $59.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.89, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.38 and a beta of 0.78.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, July 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.28 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.28. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 17.06% and a return on equity of 8.31%. The company had revenue of $4.04 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.75 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the company earned $0.26 EPS. The firm's revenue for the quarter was up 13.2% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, equities research analysts predict that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Friday, August 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, July 31st will be issued a $0.2925 dividend. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.4%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Thursday, July 31st. Kinder Morgan's payout ratio is currently 95.90%.

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.