National Pension Service Buys 1,634,631 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

National Pension Service grew its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 55.6% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 4,573,495 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 1,634,631 shares during the period. National Pension Service owned about 0.21% of Kinder Morgan worth $125,314,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. CX Institutional grew its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 2.3% during the 4th quarter. CX Institutional now owns 15,661 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $429,000 after acquiring an additional 354 shares during the period. Sunflower Bank N.A. boosted its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 3.6% in the 4th quarter. Sunflower Bank N.A. now owns 10,503 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $288,000 after buying an additional 367 shares during the period. Ignite Planners LLC boosted its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 3.9% in the 4th quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 9,992 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $282,000 after buying an additional 372 shares during the period. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 8.0% in the 4th quarter. Eagle Bay Advisors LLC now owns 5,182 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $142,000 after buying an additional 385 shares during the period. Finally, Bristlecone Advisors LLC boosted its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 2.6% in the 4th quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 15,794 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $433,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. 62.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

Kinder Morgan stock opened at $26.16 on Thursday. The firm’s fifty day moving average price is $27.76 and its 200-day moving average price is $25.44. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $58.12 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $17.02 and a fifty-two week high of $31.48.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last posted 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 net margin of 17.31% and a return on equity of 8.09%. On average, equities research analysts expect that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The business 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. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 98.29%.

Insider Activity

In related news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were 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 trade represents a 2.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of the stock in a transaction 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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 220,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,881,148.65. This 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 $3,504,136. 12.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Truist Financial raised their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley raised their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $36.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $26.00 price objective for the company. Finally, 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 note on Wednesday, January 29th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kinder Morgan presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target 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.