First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. Raises Stock Position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. $KMI

First Citizens Bank & Trust Co. boosted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 45.8% in the first quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the SEC. The firm owned 561,544 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 176,493 shares during the period. First Citizens Bank & Trust Co.’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $18,829,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KMI. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter worth about $308,000. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. increased its stake in Kinder Morgan by 11.4% during the 2nd quarter. Schnieders Capital Management LLC. now owns 69,444 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,042,000 after buying an additional 7,081 shares in the last quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC increased its stake in Kinder Morgan by 2.1% during the 2nd quarter. NewEdge Advisors LLC now owns 270,876 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $7,964,000 after buying an additional 5,586 shares in the last quarter. Nebula Research & Development LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the second quarter valued at approximately $1,168,000. Finally, Sei Investments Co. raised its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 20.4% during the second quarter. Sei Investments Co. now owns 861,465 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $25,328,000 after acquiring an additional 145,806 shares during the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of brokerages have recently issued reports on KMI. Citigroup lifted their price target on Kinder Morgan from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and issued a $43.00 price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Monday, June 15th. Jefferies Financial Group decreased their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $36.00 to $34.00 and set a “hold” rating on the stock in a report on Thursday, April 23rd. Wolfe Research lowered shares of Kinder Morgan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 21st. Finally, Scotiabank raised their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $31.00 to $32.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, March 26th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kinder Morgan presently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $34.71.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

Shares of Kinder Morgan stock opened at $32.38 on Wednesday. The business’s 50 day moving average price is $32.29 and its 200 day moving average price is $31.76. The company has a market cap of $72.03 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.73, a PEG ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.54. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92, a quick ratio of 0.41 and a current ratio of 0.52. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a one year low of $25.60 and a one year high of $34.81.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last issued its earnings results on Wednesday, April 22nd. The pipeline company reported $0.48 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.38 by $0.10. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 9.90% and a net margin of 18.92%.The company had revenue of $4.83 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.55 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the business earned $0.34 EPS. The firm’s quarterly revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts predict that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.49 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Michael P. Garthwaite sold 1,550 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, June 16th. The shares were sold at an average price of $31.44, for a total value of $48,732.00. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 41,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,312,399.92. This represents a 3.58% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 6,166 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $32.41, for a total transaction of $199,840.06. Following the sale, the vice president owned 176,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,721,661.40. The trade was a 3.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. In the last three months, insiders have sold 21,598 shares of company stock worth $693,689. Corporate insiders own 12.72% of the company’s stock.

Kinder Morgan Profile

Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI) is a large energy infrastructure company that owns and operates an extensive network of pipelines and terminals across North America. Its core activities center on the transportation, storage and handling of energy products, including natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil, refined petroleum products and carbon dioxide. The company’s assets include long-haul and gathering pipelines, storage facilities, and multi-modal terminals that serve producers, refiners, utilities and industrial customers.

Kinder Morgan’s operations deliver midstream services such as pipeline transportation, terminaling, storage and related logistics and maintenance.