Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Increases Stake in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC raised its position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 32.8% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The institutional investor owned 871,438 shares of the pipeline company's stock after purchasing an additional 215,446 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC's holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $23,877,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMI. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new position in Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter valued at $308,000. Blue Trust Inc. lifted its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 30.9% in the 4th quarter. Blue Trust Inc. now owns 32,497 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $890,000 after purchasing an additional 7,679 shares in the last quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC lifted its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 13.0% in the 4th quarter. Nilsine Partners LLC now owns 16,856 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $462,000 after purchasing an additional 1,938 shares in the last quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 18.2% in the 4th quarter. Perigon Wealth Management LLC now owns 14,170 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $426,000 after purchasing an additional 2,183 shares in the last quarter. Finally, SteelPeak Wealth LLC increased its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 3.0% in the 4th quarter. SteelPeak Wealth LLC now owns 55,225 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $1,513,000 after acquiring an additional 1,614 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.52% of the company's stock.

Insider Activity at Kinder Morgan

In related news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.61, for a total transaction of $478,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 825,652 shares in the company, valued at $21,970,599.72. This trade represents a 2.13% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Insiders sold 54,000 shares of company stock worth $1,492,740 in the last three months. 12.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have issued reports on the company. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an "overweight" rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Monday, May 5th. Barclays raised Kinder Morgan from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and set a $31.00 target price for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Scotiabank raised their target price on Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Stifel Nicolaus raised their target price on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada raised their target price on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a "sector perform" rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company's stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $30.14.

Kinder Morgan Trading Down 0.2%

Shares of NYSE:KMI traded down $0.07 during midday trading on Tuesday, reaching $28.58. 11,723,487 shares of the company's stock were exchanged, compared to its average volume of 13,998,666. The firm's 50 day simple moving average is $27.20 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.46. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $63.51 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.43, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.74. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $19.29 and a fifty-two week high of $31.48.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts' consensus estimates of $0.34. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 17.31%. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.02 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a dividend of $0.2925 per share. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.09%. This is a boost from Kinder Morgan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. Kinder Morgan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 100.86%.

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.