Whittier Trust Co. Sells 7,981 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Whittier Trust Co. trimmed its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 9.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The fund owned 81,053 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 7,981 shares during the quarter. Whittier Trust Co.’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $2,220,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently made changes to their positions in the business. Teacher Retirement System of Texas lifted its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 782.4% during the 4th quarter. Teacher Retirement System of Texas now owns 118,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,233,000 after acquiring an additional 104,627 shares during the period. Sandy Spring Bank increased its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 4.5% during the 4th quarter. Sandy Spring Bank now owns 11,898 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $326,000 after purchasing an additional 507 shares in the last quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 2.0% during the 4th quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,265,044 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $62,062,000 after purchasing an additional 44,474 shares in the last quarter. Generali Investments Management Co LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan during the 4th quarter worth about $213,000. Finally, Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd increased its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 412.8% during the 4th quarter. Harvest Fund Management Co. Ltd now owns 58,005 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,590,000 after purchasing an additional 46,694 shares in the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kinder Morgan Stock Down 0.6 %

Shares of NYSE:KMI opened at $27.90 on Friday. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a one year low of $17.61 and a one year high of $31.48. The company has a 50 day moving average of $27.57 and a 200-day moving average of $26.09. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.39. The stock has a market cap of $61.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.84, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share 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%. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed 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 4.12%. The ex-dividend date 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 Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.70, for a total transaction of $498,600.00. Following the transaction, the president now owns 843,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,369,160.40. This trade represents a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this link. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction that occurred 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 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. Insiders have sold 129,461 shares of company stock valued at $3,490,996 in the last 90 days. 12.64% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Citigroup increased their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays upgraded shares of Kinder Morgan from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 target price for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Wells Fargo & Company increased their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, Mizuho raised 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 equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently 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.