National Pension Service Acquires 72,439 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. $KMI

National Pension Service raised its holdings in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 1.8% during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The fund owned 4,137,976 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 72,439 shares during the period. National Pension Service’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $117,146,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in the business. Davis Capital Management bought a new stake in Kinder Morgan during the 3rd quarter valued at about $1,426,000. Carnegie Investment Counsel raised its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 9.8% during the third quarter. Carnegie Investment Counsel now owns 755,295 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $21,382,000 after acquiring an additional 67,274 shares in the last quarter. Vise Technologies Inc. purchased a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan in the second quarter valued at approximately $1,713,000. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. grew its stake in Kinder Morgan by 9.6% in the second quarter. Westwood Holdings Group Inc. now owns 7,058,772 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $207,528,000 after purchasing an additional 616,679 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Community Financial Services Group LLC purchased a new position in Kinder Morgan during the 3rd quarter worth $1,683,000. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In other Kinder Morgan news, VP John W. Schlosser sold 6,166 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, January 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.49, for a total transaction of $169,503.34. Following the sale, the vice president owned 201,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,531,097.96. The trade was a 2.97% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, CFO David Patrick Michels sold 20,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer directly owned 139,428 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $4,182,840. This represents a 12.54% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 38,498 shares of company stock worth $1,107,462. Corporate insiders own 12.73% of the company’s stock.

Kinder Morgan Trading Up 0.9%

NYSE KMI opened at $30.50 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $67.85 billion, a PE ratio of 22.26, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.45 and a beta of 0.69. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $23.94 and a 52 week high of $30.57. The company has a quick ratio of 0.49, a current ratio of 0.64 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company has a 50 day moving average price of $27.57 and a 200 day moving average price of $27.29.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last issued its quarterly 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 business had revenue of $4.51 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.33 billion. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 18.04%.The business’s quarterly revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the prior year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. As a group, sell-side analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be paid a dividend of $0.2925 per share. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.8%. Kinder Morgan’s payout ratio is presently 85.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several brokerages have weighed in on KMI. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 11th. Scotiabank increased their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Friday, January 23rd. Mizuho cut their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $32.00 to $31.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, November 14th. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Thursday, November 13th. Finally, Morgan Stanley reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Friday. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have issued a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.38.

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.