Blue Trust Inc. Purchases 7,679 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Blue Trust Inc. increased its position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 30.9% in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 32,497 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 7,679 shares during the quarter. Blue Trust Inc.’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $890,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other hedge funds also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 0.7% in the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 4,591,311 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $101,422,000 after buying an additional 29,861 shares during the period. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in Kinder Morgan by 3.5% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 22,813 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $504,000 after buying an additional 776 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 3.2% during the third 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. Czech National Bank grew its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 6.9% during the 3rd quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 393,351 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $8,689,000 after buying an additional 25,406 shares during the period. Finally, Barclays PLC increased its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 39.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,186,207 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $180,833,000 after acquiring an additional 2,334,273 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.52% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Kinder Morgan

In other news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 19,121 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.28, for a total value of $502,499.88. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 897,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,590,294.56. The trade was a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, Director Amy W. Chronis purchased 2,241 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $24.89 per share, for a total transaction of $55,778.49. Following the transaction, the director now directly owns 23,995 shares in the company, valued at $597,235.55. This represents a 10.30 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last ninety days, insiders have sold 55,121 shares of company stock valued at $1,497,000. 12.81% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

Shares of KMI opened at $27.30 on Thursday. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.64 billion, a PE ratio of 23.33, a PEG ratio of 4.13 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.35. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $16.47 and a fifty-two week high of $31.48. The company’s 50-day moving average is $28.01 and its 200-day moving average is $24.60.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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 8.10%. Equities analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.27 EPS for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd will be given a dividend of $0.2875 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.21%. Kinder Morgan’s payout ratio is presently 98.29%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

KMI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. The Goldman Sachs Group boosted their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Bank of America initiated coverage on Kinder Morgan in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $27.00 price target on the stock. Citigroup lifted their target price on Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Scotiabank assumed 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. Finally, Mizuho boosted their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.14.

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.