Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC Boosts Stock Holdings in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC increased its stake in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 0.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The fund owned 656,766 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 774 shares during the period. Wealth Enhancement Advisory Services LLC’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $17,995,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KMI. LPL Financial LLC increased its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 13.0% in the second quarter. LPL Financial LLC now owns 3,564,160 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $70,820,000 after buying an additional 408,751 shares during the period. American Century Companies Inc. grew its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 1.6% in the 2nd quarter. American Century Companies Inc. now owns 346,183 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $6,879,000 after acquiring an additional 5,402 shares during the last quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 47.7% during the second quarter. Meeder Advisory Services Inc. now owns 45,324 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $901,000 after acquiring an additional 14,646 shares during the last quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC raised its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 29.2% during the second quarter. Fiduciary Group LLC now owns 15,493 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $308,000 after acquiring an additional 3,500 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 344.6% during the second quarter. Thoroughbred Financial Services LLC now owns 47,274 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $939,000 after purchasing an additional 36,640 shares during the period. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research analysts have commented on the company. Barclays upped their price target on Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, December 17th. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price target on Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 26th. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Friday. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $26.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $26.00 target price on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $26.67.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

Kinder Morgan stock opened at $28.20 on Friday. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a twelve month low of $16.47 and a twelve month high of $28.82. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.46 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The company has a market capitalization of $62.65 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.74, a PEG ratio of 3.87 and a beta of 0.94. The stock’s 50 day moving average is $27.31 and its 200 day moving average is $23.76.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.27 by ($0.02). The company had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.05 billion. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 16.76% and a return on equity of 7.87%. Kinder Morgan’s revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business earned $0.25 earnings per share. On average, equities research analysts predict that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Stockholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a $0.2875 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.08%. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.88%.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Amy W. Chronis acquired 2,241 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was purchased at an average cost of $24.89 per share, with a total value of $55,778.49. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 23,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $597,235.55. This trade represents a 10.30 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The acquisition was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Thomas A. Martin sold 19,121 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.28, for a total transaction of $502,499.88. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 897,652 shares in the company, valued at $23,590,294.56. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 745,263 shares of company stock worth $18,578,014 over the last 90 days. 12.81% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.