Keene & Associates Inc. Purchases New Stake in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Keene & Associates Inc. acquired a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) in the 2nd quarter, according to the company in its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor acquired 172,775 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $3,433,000. Kinder Morgan accounts for 2.8% of Keene & Associates Inc.’s investment portfolio, making the stock its 12th biggest holding.

A number of other large investors have also recently bought and sold shares of KMI. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 15.8% during the 1st quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,888,911 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,665,963,000 after acquiring an additional 27,254,172 shares in the last quarter. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter worth $409,063,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan in the 1st quarter valued at $87,627,000. Castle Hook Partners LP increased its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 108.2% in the 1st quarter. Castle Hook Partners LP now owns 7,799,826 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $143,049,000 after purchasing an additional 4,053,793 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP raised its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 45.9% during the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 9,959,947 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $182,665,000 after buying an additional 3,135,457 shares in the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several research firms recently weighed in on KMI. Royal Bank of Canada raised their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $20.00 to $22.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, July 30th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $20.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Thursday, July 25th. Argus upgraded shares of Kinder Morgan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Barclays raised their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Friday. Finally, Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Kinder Morgan to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $22.40.

Insider Activity

In related news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 100,000 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction on Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.01, for a total transaction of $2,101,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 916,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,261,400.73. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. In related news, VP Dax Sanders sold 1,729 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, August 13th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.00, for a total transaction of $36,309.00. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 307,409 shares in the company, valued at approximately $6,455,589. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, President Thomas A. Martin sold 100,000 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 1st. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.01, for a total value of $2,101,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 916,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,261,400.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last three months, insiders have sold 148,311 shares of company stock valued at $3,121,891. 12.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

NYSE KMI opened at $21.14 on Monday. The company has a market capitalization of $46.92 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.22, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.93. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a twelve month low of $15.89 and a twelve month high of $21.86. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $21.01 and a 200 day simple moving average of $19.60. The company has a quick ratio of 0.28, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.26 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.13 billion. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 15.93% and a return on equity of 7.89%. The company’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same period in the previous year, the company posted $0.24 EPS. Sell-side analysts expect that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.19 EPS for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a $0.2875 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 5.44%. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is currently 104.55%.

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.