Morse Asset Management Inc Takes Position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Morse Asset Management Inc acquired a new position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) in the 4th quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The institutional investor acquired 1,000 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $27,000.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently bought and sold shares of KMI. CX Institutional increased its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 2.3% during the fourth 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. Ignite Planners LLC increased its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 3.9% during the 4th quarter. Ignite Planners LLC now owns 9,992 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $282,000 after purchasing an additional 372 shares during the period. Diligent Investors LLC raised its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 1.5% in the 4th quarter. Diligent Investors LLC now owns 26,083 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $715,000 after buying an additional 381 shares in the last quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 2.6% in the fourth quarter. Bristlecone Advisors LLC now owns 15,794 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $433,000 after buying an additional 400 shares during the period. Finally, LRI Investments LLC grew its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 9.6% during the fourth quarter. LRI Investments LLC now owns 4,946 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $136,000 after acquiring an additional 435 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.52% of the company’s stock.

Kinder Morgan Trading Up 0.7%

Shares of NYSE KMI opened at $27.51 on Wednesday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.05 and a 200 day simple moving average of $27.23. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $18.83 and a 52 week high of $31.48. The stock has a market cap of $61.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.51, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.49.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, hitting the consensus estimate of $0.34. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.02 billion. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 17.31% and a return on equity of 8.09%. On average, research analysts predict that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Increases Dividend

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.2925 per share. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.25%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This is an increase from Kinder Morgan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio is 100.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts recently commented on KMI shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. Scotiabank raised their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, April 21st. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday, May 5th. Mizuho boosted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, UBS Group raised their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.79.

Insider Activity at Kinder Morgan

In other news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.61, for a total value of $478,980.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now directly owns 825,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $21,970,599.72. The trade was a 2.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through this hyperlink. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of the firm’s 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 completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 220,681 shares in the company, valued at $5,881,148.65. The trade was a 25.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders have sold 129,461 shares of company stock valued at $3,503,776. Corporate insiders own 12.73% of the company’s stock.

About Kinder Morgan

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.