Van ECK Associates Corp Increases Stake in Kinder Morgan, Inc. $KMI

Key Points

• Van ECK Associates increased its stake in Kinder Morgan by 5.1% in Q3 to 838,095 shares (added 40,922 shares), valued at about $23.7 million.
• Analysts have lifted price targets recently and the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" with an average target of $33.08 (eight Buy, seven Hold ratings).
• Kinder Morgan beat quarterly expectations (EPS $0.39 vs. $0.37; revenue $4.51B, +13.1% YoY) and pays a quarterly dividend of $0.2925 (annualized $1.17, ~3.5% yield) with a payout ratio of 85.4%.

Van ECK Associates Corp lifted its position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 5.1% during the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 838,095 shares of the pipeline company's stock after buying an additional 40,922 shares during the period. Van ECK Associates Corp's holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $23,727,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Legal & General Group Plc increased its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 1.4% in the 3rd quarter. Legal & General Group Plc now owns 15,878,898 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $449,532,000 after purchasing an additional 213,741 shares in the last quarter. Fieldview Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan during the third quarter valued at $1,551,000. Jefferies Financial Group Inc. bought a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the 3rd quarter worth about $5,634,000. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. raised its position in Kinder Morgan by 9.4% in the 3rd quarter. Pinnacle Associates Ltd. now owns 120,959 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $3,424,000 after buying an additional 10,418 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Dynamic Technology Lab Private Ltd purchased a new position in Kinder Morgan in the 3rd quarter worth about $468,000. Institutional investors own 62.52% of the company's stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently issued reports on the stock. Royal Bank Of Canada raised their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $32.00 and gave the company a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, February 27th. Scotiabank raised their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $31.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an "outperform" rating in a research report on Thursday, March 5th. Jefferies Financial Group increased their price target on Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Morgan Stanley raised their price target on Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the stock an "equal weight" rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have given a Hold rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $33.08.

Kinder Morgan Trading Up 0.3%

Shares of Kinder Morgan stock opened at $33.07 on Thursday. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.94 and a 1-year high of $34.24. The company's fifty day simple moving average is $30.50 and its 200-day simple moving average is $28.28. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.50. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.57 billion, a PE ratio of 24.14, a P/E/G ratio of 3.04 and a beta of 0.68.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last issued 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 during 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 quarter in the prior year, the business posted $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, equities analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Investors of record on Monday, February 2nd were given a $0.2925 dividend. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. Kinder Morgan's payout ratio is currently 85.40%.

Insider Transactions at Kinder Morgan

In other news, VP Anthony B. Ashley sold 8,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $31.95, for a total transaction of $255,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president directly owned 100,146 shares in the company, valued at approximately $3,199,664.70. This represents a 7.40% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CFO David Patrick Michels sold 20,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 139,428 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $4,182,840. This trade represents a 12.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 46,498 shares of company stock valued at $1,418,248 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.73% of the company's stock.

Kinder Morgan Profile

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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