Nuveen Asset Management LLC Acquires 2,191,165 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Nuveen Asset Management LLC boosted its stake in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 39.1% in the fourth quarter, HoldingsChannel reports. The firm owned 7,788,045 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 2,191,165 shares during the period. Nuveen Asset Management LLC’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $213,392,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the stock. Claro Advisors LLC bought a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter valued at about $223,000. Miracle Mile Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter valued at approximately $315,000. Accurate Wealth Management LLC raised its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 20.2% during the fourth quarter. Accurate Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,281 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $628,000 after purchasing an additional 3,743 shares during the period. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC lifted its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 10.8% in the 4th quarter. SeaCrest Wealth Management LLC now owns 22,951 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $629,000 after purchasing an additional 2,240 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC grew its position in Kinder Morgan by 31.1% in the 4th quarter. Fifth Third Wealth Advisors LLC now owns 65,631 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,798,000 after purchasing an additional 15,586 shares during the period. 62.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kinder Morgan Stock Up 1.9%

KMI stock opened at $27.97 on Friday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a current ratio of 0.49. The company has a market capitalization of $62.15 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.91, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.74. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $18.83 and a fifty-two week high of $31.48. The stock has a fifty day moving average of $27.12 and a 200-day moving average of $27.26.

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

Kinder Morgan Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a $0.2925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.18%. This is a boost from Kinder Morgan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.86%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of analysts have commented on KMI shares. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, May 6th. Citigroup upped their target price on Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday, May 5th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Kinder Morgan from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kinder Morgan presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $29.79.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.65, for a total value of $2,011,035.65. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 220,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,881,148.65. This represents a 25.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.61, for a total transaction of $478,980.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 825,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,970,599.72. The trade was a 2.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 129,461 shares of company stock worth $3,503,776. Corporate insiders own 12.73% of the company’s stock.

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.