Ensign Peak Advisors Inc Sells 1,722,271 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Ensign Peak Advisors Inc trimmed its stake in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 14.8% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 9,948,442 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,722,271 shares during the quarter. Ensign Peak Advisors Inc’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $272,587,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other large investors also recently made changes to their positions in the stock. Xponance Inc. grew its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 5.2% in the 4th quarter. Xponance Inc. now owns 303,044 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $8,303,000 after acquiring an additional 15,114 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. lifted its stake in Kinder Morgan by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,291,704 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $50,624,000 after purchasing an additional 71,984 shares during the last quarter. Golden State Equity Partners grew its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 2,507.9% during the fourth quarter. Golden State Equity Partners now owns 16,430 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $450,000 after purchasing an additional 15,800 shares during the period. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. increased its position in Kinder Morgan by 2.0% during the fourth quarter. Royal London Asset Management Ltd. now owns 2,265,044 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $62,062,000 after buying an additional 44,474 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Barclays PLC raised its stake in Kinder Morgan by 39.9% in the third quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,186,207 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $180,833,000 after buying an additional 2,334,273 shares during the period. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.52% of the company’s stock.

Insider Transactions at Kinder Morgan

In other news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.75, for a total transaction of $517,500.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 807,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,219,995. This trade represents a 2.18 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this link. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of the business’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 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 position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. In the last ninety days, insiders sold 129,461 shares of company stock valued at $3,503,776. Corporate insiders own 12.73% of the company’s stock.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

KMI stock opened at $27.05 on Friday. The company has a market capitalization of $60.10 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.12, 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, Inc. has a 52-week low of $18.81 and a 52-week high of $31.48. The company has a fifty day moving average price of $27.01 and a 200-day moving average price of $27.16.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.34 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, hitting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 8.09% and a net margin of 17.31%. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.02 billion. As a group, equities analysts expect that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be given a dividend of $0.2925 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.33%. This is a boost from Kinder Morgan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio is 100.86%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

KMI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Morgan Stanley lifted their target price on Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $36.00 in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Truist Financial lifted their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reaffirmed an “overweight” rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday. Finally, UBS Group increased their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Monday, January 27th. Seven equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.79.

Kinder Morgan Company 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.