Sandy Spring Bank Boosts Stake in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Sandy Spring Bank lifted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 4.5% during the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 11,898 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 507 shares during the quarter. Sandy Spring Bank’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $326,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. CX Institutional boosted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 15,661 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $429,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares in the last quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. raised its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 3.6% during the 4th quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 10,503 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $288,000 after purchasing an additional 367 shares during the last quarter. Ignite Planners LLC raised its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 9,992 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $282,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the last quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 8.0% during the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 5,182 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $142,000 after purchasing an additional 385 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bristlecone Advisors LLC raised its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 2.6% during the 4th quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 15,794 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $433,000 after purchasing an additional 400 shares during the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

Kinder Morgan stock opened at $27.90 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.57 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.09. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.61 and a 1-year high of $31.48. 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 $61.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.84, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate 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, analysts expect that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.2875 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.12%. Kinder Morgan’s payout ratio is currently 98.29%.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.70, for a total transaction of $498,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 843,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,369,160.40. This trade represents a 2.09 % decrease in their position. 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 the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.65, for a total transaction of $2,011,035.65. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 220,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,881,148.65. This represents a 25.48 % 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 valued at $3,490,996. Company insiders own 12.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research firms recently weighed in on KMI. Barclays upgraded shares of Kinder Morgan from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 price target for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Wells Fargo & Company increased their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $36.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Truist Financial increased their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven investment 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus 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.