Russell Investments Group Ltd. Has $79.26 Million Holdings in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. raised its stake in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 21.5% during the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 2,892,776 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 512,097 shares during the period. Russell Investments Group Ltd. owned about 0.13% of Kinder Morgan worth $79,256,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of KMI. Vanguard Group Inc. grew its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 0.7% in the 4th quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 202,846,078 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,557,983,000 after purchasing an additional 1,469,759 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its position in Kinder Morgan by 2.5% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 51,759,844 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,414,813,000 after buying an additional 1,252,609 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter worth about $917,523,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp increased 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 worth $376,332,000 after buying an additional 1,093,242 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Amundi raised its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 28.9% in 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. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities research analysts recently weighed in on KMI shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised 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. JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their target price on Kinder Morgan from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Scotiabank began coverage on Kinder Morgan in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $26.00 price target on the stock. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.64.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 owns 220,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,881,148.65. This represents a 25.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.75, for a total transaction of $517,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 807,652 shares in the company, valued at $23,219,995. The trade was a 2.18 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 129,461 shares of company stock worth $3,506,116 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.81% of the company’s stock.

Kinder Morgan Stock Down 8.9 %

Kinder Morgan stock opened at $25.27 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.14 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.59, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.20 and its 200 day simple moving average is $26.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.39. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.61 and a fifty-two week high of $31.48.

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

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.2875 dividend. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio is 98.29%.

Kinder Morgan Company 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.