Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. Buys 193,223 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. $KMI

Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd. raised its stake in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 5.2% in the 3rd quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 3,931,523 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 193,223 shares during the period. Mitsubishi UFJ Asset Management Co. Ltd.’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $111,301,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 0.4% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 208,116,318 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $5,891,773,000 after acquiring an additional 896,837 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC increased its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 1.2% during the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 51,848,863 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,518,195,000 after purchasing an additional 599,152 shares during the period. Norges Bank bought a new stake in Kinder Morgan during the 2nd quarter valued at $1,162,802,000. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd lifted its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 3.1% in the 2nd quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 22,635,179 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $665,474,000 after buying an additional 670,856 shares during the period. Finally, Invesco Ltd. grew its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 21,949,329 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $645,310,000 after buying an additional 603,197 shares in the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms recently weighed in on KMI. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Freedom Capital raised shares of Kinder Morgan from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. Scotiabank upped their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Friday, January 23rd. Morgan Stanley reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Friday, January 30th. Finally, Royal Bank Of Canada upped their target price on Kinder Morgan from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Kinder Morgan currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $32.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, CFO David Patrick Michels sold 20,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total transaction of $600,000.00. Following the sale, the chief financial officer owned 139,428 shares in the company, valued at approximately $4,182,840. The trade was a 12.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director William A. Smith acquired 3,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, February 2nd. The shares were bought at an average price of $29.75 per share, for a total transaction of $89,250.00. Following the acquisition, the director owned 31,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $924,838.25. This represents a 10.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase is available in the SEC filing. Insiders have sold 46,498 shares of company stock valued at $1,382,115 in the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 12.73% of the company’s stock.

Kinder Morgan Stock Up 0.8%

NYSE:KMI opened at $33.04 on Friday. The company’s 50-day simple moving average is $29.36 and its 200-day simple moving average is $27.84. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.64. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.94 and a fifty-two week high of $33.24. The stock has a market capitalization of $73.51 billion, a P/E ratio of 24.12, a P/E/G ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.70.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.39 EPS for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.02. The firm had revenue of $4.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.33 billion. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 18.04% and a return on equity of 9.02%. Kinder Morgan’s revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted $0.30 EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were given a $0.2925 dividend. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 2nd. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.5%. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 85.40%.

About Kinder Morgan

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.