12,449 Shares in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) Purchased by Verdence Capital Advisors LLC

Verdence Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) in the 4th quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm purchased 12,449 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $341,000.

A number of other large investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 8.6% during the 4th quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,734,753 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $376,332,000 after acquiring an additional 1,093,242 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP lifted its position in Kinder Morgan by 0.7% during the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 10,550,002 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $233,050,000 after purchasing an additional 69,307 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew 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 worth $180,833,000 after buying an additional 2,334,273 shares in the last quarter. Bank of Montreal Can increased its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 2.2% in the 3rd quarter. Bank of Montreal Can now owns 7,485,834 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $163,116,000 after buying an additional 164,152 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. lifted its holdings 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 acquiring an additional 29,861 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.52% of the company’s stock.

Insider Activity

In related news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, January 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total value of $502,380.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 861,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $24,048,707.32. The trade was a 2.05 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on 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 sale, the vice president now owns 220,681 shares of the company’s stock, 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. Over the last 90 days, insiders have sold 129,461 shares of company stock worth $3,490,996. Company insiders own 12.64% of the company’s stock.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

Kinder Morgan stock opened at $26.14 on Friday. 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 $58.09 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $27.71 and a two-hundred day moving average of $25.68. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $17.45 and a 1 year high of $31.48.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share (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 forecast that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared 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 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Kinder Morgan’s payout ratio is 98.29%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have weighed in on KMI. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their target price on Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank started coverage on Kinder Morgan in a research report on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $26.00 price target for the company. JPMorgan Chase & Co. boosted their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday. Finally, Mizuho increased their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note 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 given a strong buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kinder Morgan has a consensus 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.