Columbia Asset Management Takes $229,000 Position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Columbia Asset Management acquired a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) in the 4th quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund acquired 8,366 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $229,000.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in KMI. Norges Bank purchased a new position in Kinder Morgan during the 4th quarter valued at $917,523,000. Raymond James Financial Inc. bought a new position in Kinder Morgan during the 4th quarter worth about $157,804,000. Artisan Partners Limited Partnership purchased a new position in Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $87,729,000. Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 11,819,777 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $334,381,000 after acquiring an additional 2,650,040 shares during the period. Finally, Pictet Asset Management Holding SA grew its stake in Kinder Morgan by 223.9% in the fourth quarter. Pictet Asset Management Holding SA now owns 3,465,980 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $94,968,000 after purchasing an additional 2,395,930 shares during the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kinder Morgan news, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of the firm’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 completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 220,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,881,148.65. This trade represents a 25.48 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated 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 directly owns 861,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $24,048,707.32. The trade was a 2.05 % 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 ninety days. 12.81% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of equities analysts have recently issued reports on the company. Mizuho upped their price target on Kinder Morgan from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank initiated coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $26.00 price objective for the company. Morgan Stanley upped their target price on Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Citigroup increased their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective 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. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have assigned a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.64.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

NYSE KMI opened at $28.63 on Wednesday. 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’s 50 day simple moving average is $27.39 and its 200-day simple moving average is $26.52. The company has a market cap of $63.60 billion, a PE ratio of 24.47, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 1-year low of $17.61 and a 1-year high of $31.48.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share 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%. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were issued a $0.2875 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.02%. Kinder Morgan’s payout ratio is 98.29%.

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.