NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC Raises Stock Holdings in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 3.9% during the 1st quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the SEC. The firm owned 244,039 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 9,190 shares during the period. NorthCrest Asset Manangement LLC’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $6,962,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors also recently bought and sold shares of KMI. Diligent Investors LLC increased its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 1.5% during the fourth quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 26,083 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $715,000 after purchasing an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 9.6% in the 4th quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 4,946 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $136,000 after buying an additional 435 shares in the last quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund grew its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 0.3% in the 4th quarter. Oregon Public Employees Retirement Fund now owns 165,727 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,541,000 after buying an additional 440 shares in the last quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC grew its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 2.3% in the 4th quarter. TD Private Client Wealth LLC now owns 20,814 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $570,000 after buying an additional 464 shares in the last quarter. Finally, 180 Wealth Advisors LLC grew its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 2.8% in the 1st quarter. 180 Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 17,479 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $499,000 after buying an additional 471 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.52% of the company’s stock.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

KMI opened at $27.61 on Friday. The stock’s 50-day moving average price is $27.28 and its 200 day moving average price is $27.44. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 12-month low of $19.47 and a 12-month high of $31.48. 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 firm has a market cap of $61.34 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.59, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.74.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.34. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 17.31%. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. As a group, sell-side analysts expect that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Increases Dividend

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were paid a dividend of $0.2925 per share. This is a positive change from Kinder Morgan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.24%. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.86%.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kinder Morgan news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, May 7th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.57, for a total transaction of $496,260.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 789,652 shares in the company, valued at $21,770,705.64. This represents a 2.23% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Insiders have sold a total of 54,000 shares of company stock worth $1,522,440 in the last quarter. 12.73% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KMI has been the subject of several analyst reports. Stifel Nicolaus upped their target price on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 3rd. Royal Bank of Canada upped their target price on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday, May 5th. Scotiabank upped their target price on Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, June 5th. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their target price on Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Tuesday, May 6th. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.21.

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.