Confluence Investment Management LLC Sells 156,811 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. $KMI

Confluence Investment Management LLC trimmed its position in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 4.1% in the 4th quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,637,035 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 156,811 shares during the period. Kinder Morgan accounts for about 1.5% of Confluence Investment Management LLC’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 25th biggest holding. Confluence Investment Management LLC’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $99,982,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the company. GoalVest Advisory LLC bought a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the 4th quarter worth approximately $39,000. GAMMA Investing LLC boosted its stake in Kinder Morgan by 2.3% in the fourth quarter. GAMMA Investing LLC now owns 41,310 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,136,000 after acquiring an additional 936 shares in the last quarter. Triumph Capital Management purchased a new position in Kinder Morgan in the third quarter worth $103,000. AIA Group Ltd grew its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 16.1% in the third quarter. AIA Group Ltd now owns 41,842 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,185,000 after purchasing an additional 5,806 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Keel Point LLC increased its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 9.5% during the third quarter. Keel Point LLC now owns 11,189 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $317,000 after purchasing an additional 968 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.52% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Kinder Morgan

In related news, CFO David Patrick Michels sold 20,000 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 139,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,182,840. This represents a 12.54% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP Anthony B. Ashley sold 8,000 shares of the firm’s 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 transaction, the vice president directly owned 100,146 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $3,199,664.70. This represents a 7.40% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold 48,048 shares of company stock valued at $1,469,863 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 12.73% of the company’s stock.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

Shares of KMI opened at $33.42 on Friday. 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 company’s fifty day moving average price is $31.20 and its 200-day moving average price is $28.54. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 1-year low of $23.94 and a 1-year high of $34.24. The firm has a market capitalization of $74.35 billion, a PE ratio of 24.39, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.01 and a beta of 0.68.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.37 by $0.02. The company had revenue of $4.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.33 billion. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 18.04%.The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. On average, equities research analysts predict that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS 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 issued a dividend of $0.2925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Kinder Morgan’s payout ratio is 85.40%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several brokerages have recently commented on KMI. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Friday, March 13th. Scotiabank boosted their target price on Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday. Morgan Stanley increased their price target on Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $36.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Tuesday, March 3rd. Jefferies Financial Group raised their price target on Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price target on Kinder Morgan from $31.00 to $37.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 5th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and seven have assigned a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kinder Morgan currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $33.46.

Kinder Morgan Company 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.