Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) Shares Sold by Vestcor Inc

Vestcor Inc lowered its position in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 17.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The fund owned 57,810 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 11,953 shares during the quarter. Vestcor Inc’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $1,584,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp raised its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,734,753 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $376,332,000 after acquiring an additional 1,093,242 shares during the last quarter. Amundi raised its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 28.9% during the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 11,819,777 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $334,381,000 after acquiring an additional 2,650,040 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 0.7% during the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 10,550,002 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $233,050,000 after acquiring an additional 69,307 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC raised its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 39.9% during the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,186,207 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $180,833,000 after acquiring an additional 2,334,273 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of Montreal Can grew its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 2.2% in the third quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 7,485,834 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $163,116,000 after purchasing an additional 164,152 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.52% of the company’s stock.

Kinder Morgan Trading Up 2.1 %

Shares of NYSE KMI opened at $27.11 on Friday. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.48 and a twelve month high of $31.48. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.60 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.87. The stock has a market capitalization of $60.23 billion, a PE ratio of 23.17, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by ($0.01). Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 17.31% and a return on equity of 8.09%. On average, equities analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.2875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.24%. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.29%.

Insider Activity at Kinder Morgan

In related news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total value of $502,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 861,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,048,707.32. This trade represents a 2.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction dated 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 sale, the vice president now directly owns 220,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,881,148.65. This trade represents a 25.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last three months, insiders sold 129,461 shares of company stock worth $3,490,996. Company insiders own 12.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KMI has been the subject of several recent research reports. JPMorgan Chase & Co. increased their price target on Kinder Morgan from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $36.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Barclays raised Kinder Morgan from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 price target for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Scotiabank initiated coverage on Kinder Morgan in a report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $26.00 price target for the company. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company increased their price target on Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven research 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 company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price 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.