MetLife Investment Management LLC Raises Holdings in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

MetLife Investment Management LLC raised its position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 1.9% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 511,680 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 9,456 shares during the quarter. MetLife Investment Management LLC's holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $14,020,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other large investors also recently modified their holdings of the company. Xponance Inc. increased its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 303,044 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $8,303,000 after buying an additional 15,114 shares during the last quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. raised its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 3.2% during the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,291,704 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $50,624,000 after acquiring an additional 71,984 shares in the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners lifted its stake in Kinder Morgan by 2,507.9% during the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 16,430 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $450,000 after purchasing an additional 15,800 shares during the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,265,044 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $62,062,000 after purchasing an additional 44,474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 39.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,186,207 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $180,833,000 after purchasing an additional 2,334,273 shares in the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

Shares of Kinder Morgan stock traded up $0.32 on Thursday, hitting $26.92. The company's stock had a trading volume of 4,419,420 shares, compared to its average volume of 15,012,232. The company has a market capitalization of $59.81 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.00, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.72. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.13 and a 52-week high of $31.48. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $26.94 and a 200-day moving average price of $26.97. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.34. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 17.31% and a return on equity of 8.09%. The business had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. On average, equities research analysts expect that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Increases Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.2925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.35%. This is a positive change from Kinder Morgan's previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kinder Morgan's dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.86%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kinder Morgan news, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of the business's stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.65, for a total value of $2,011,035.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 220,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,881,148.65. The trade was a 25.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. Also, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.75, for a total value of $517,500.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 807,652 shares in the company, valued at $23,219,995. This trade represents a 2.18 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders sold 129,461 shares of company stock worth $3,506,116. 12.73% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

KMI has been the subject of a number of research reports. Citigroup boosted their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Mizuho lifted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an "overweight" rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $36.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a "neutral" rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $29.64.

Kinder Morgan Profile

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.