Washington Trust Advisors Inc. Lowers Stake in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Washington Trust Advisors Inc. reduced its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 15.7% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 222,289 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 41,271 shares during the period. Washington Trust Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $6,091,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Several other large investors have also bought and sold shares of KMI. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter worth approximately $157,804,000. Vision Financial Markets LLC bought a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter worth approximately $128,000. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. lifted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 8.5% in the fourth quarter. Cullen Frost Bankers Inc. now owns 36,786 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,008,000 after buying an additional 2,873 shares in the last quarter. Verdence Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter worth approximately $341,000. Finally, Proficio Capital Partners LLC bought a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter worth approximately $4,176,000. 62.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kinder Morgan Stock Down 0.9 %

Shares of KMI stock opened at $26.76 on Thursday. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 12 month low of $17.45 and a 12 month high of $31.48. The stock has a market cap of $59.45 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.87, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.75 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $25.65.

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%. On average, research analysts expect that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share 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 paid a $0.2875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.30%. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 98.29%.

Insider Transactions at Kinder Morgan

In other news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.70, for a total value of $498,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 843,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,369,160.40. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available at this hyperlink. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of the stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.65, for a total transaction of $2,011,035.65. Following the completion of the sale, 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 ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 111,461 shares of company stock valued at $3,012,016 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.64% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several brokerages have recently issued reports on KMI. Citigroup upped their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Barclays upgraded shares of Kinder Morgan from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on the stock in a research report on Monday. Morgan Stanley increased their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Mizuho increased their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.64.

About Kinder Morgan

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.