Avantax Advisory Services Inc. Cuts Stock Position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Avantax Advisory Services Inc. cut its holdings in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 24.1% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 91,099 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 28,859 shares during the quarter. Avantax Advisory Services Inc.’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $2,496,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KMI. Assetmark Inc. increased its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 50.6% during the third quarter. Assetmark Inc. now owns 4,313 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $95,000 after purchasing an additional 1,450 shares in the last quarter. KBC Group NV increased its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 0.5% during the third quarter. KBC Group NV now owns 237,353 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $5,243,000 after purchasing an additional 1,265 shares in the last quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc increased its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 6.9% during the third quarter. CIBC Asset Management Inc now owns 341,054 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $7,534,000 after purchasing an additional 22,151 shares in the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC increased its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 15.2% during the third quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 172,905 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,819,000 after purchasing an additional 22,776 shares in the last quarter. Finally, KCM Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 14.9% during the third quarter. KCM Investment Advisors LLC now owns 15,568 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $344,000 after purchasing an additional 2,020 shares in the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

Shares of Kinder Morgan stock opened at $27.11 on Monday. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.52 and a 52 week high of $31.48. The business’s fifty day simple moving average is $27.60 and its 200-day simple moving average is $25.94. The firm has a market cap of $60.23 billion, a PE ratio of 23.17, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

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

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

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

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total transaction of $502,380.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 861,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $24,048,707.32. This represents a 2.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of the 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 220,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,881,148.65. The trade was a 25.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 129,461 shares of company stock valued at $3,490,996. Corporate insiders own 12.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several brokerages recently commented on KMI. Scotiabank began coverage on Kinder Morgan in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $26.00 price target for the company. Barclays raised Kinder Morgan from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company currently has an average 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.