Smith Moore & CO. Makes New $215,000 Investment in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Smith Moore & CO. bought a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund bought 7,860 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $215,000.

Other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently modified their holdings of the company. Xponance Inc. grew its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 5.2% in the fourth quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 303,044 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,303,000 after purchasing an additional 15,114 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,291,704 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $50,624,000 after buying an additional 71,984 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners increased its position in Kinder Morgan by 2,507.9% during the 4th quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 16,430 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $450,000 after buying an additional 15,800 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. boosted its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 2.0% in the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,265,044 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $62,062,000 after acquiring an additional 44,474 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC grew its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 39.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,186,207 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $180,833,000 after acquiring an additional 2,334,273 shares during the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kinder Morgan Trading Down 8.9 %

Kinder Morgan stock opened at $25.27 on Monday. The business has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.65. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.61 and a 52-week high of $31.48. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a market cap of $56.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last announced its 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 net margin of 17.31% and a return on equity of 8.09%. Analysts predict that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

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

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms have recently issued reports on KMI. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Citigroup boosted their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Scotiabank assumed coverage on Kinder Morgan in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $26.00 target price on the stock. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.64.

Insider Activity at Kinder Morgan

In other news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $28.75, for a total value of $517,500.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly 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 sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of the company’s 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 220,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,881,148.65. This trade represents a 25.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 129,461 shares of company stock worth $3,506,116. 12.81% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

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.