Principal Financial Group Inc. Trims Position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. $KMI

Principal Financial Group Inc. lowered its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 14.1% during the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 2,896,158 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 475,138 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $97,108,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

Several other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMI. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter valued at approximately $1,132,125,000. AQR Capital Management LLC raised its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 431.9% during the third quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 6,569,082 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $185,971,000 after purchasing an additional 5,333,986 shares during the last quarter. Merewether Investment Management LP acquired a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan during the second quarter worth $138,477,000. Zimmer Partners LP grew its position in Kinder Morgan by 177.8% in the 3rd quarter. Zimmer Partners LP now owns 6,070,100 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $171,845,000 after buying an additional 3,885,000 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Eurizon Capital SGR S.p.A. purchased a new position in Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter valued at $85,364,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.52% of the company’s stock.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

Shares of KMI opened at $32.20 on Thursday. The company has a quick ratio of 0.41, a current ratio of 0.52 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.92. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $25.60 and a 52-week high of $34.81. The company has a 50-day simple moving average of $32.25 and a 200-day simple moving average of $31.62. The company has a market capitalization of $71.65 billion, a PE ratio of 21.61, a P/E/G ratio of 2.71 and a beta of 0.54.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 22nd. The pipeline company reported $0.48 EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.38 by $0.10. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 18.92% and a return on equity of 9.90%. The firm had revenue of $4.83 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.55 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.34 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was up 13.8% on a year-over-year basis. Kinder Morgan has set its FY 2026 guidance at 1.360-1.360 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.49 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Increases Dividend

The company also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, May 15th. Investors of record on Monday, May 4th were issued a $0.2975 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Monday, May 4th. This represents a $1.19 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.7%. This is an increase from Kinder Morgan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. Kinder Morgan’s payout ratio is currently 79.87%.

Insider Activity at Kinder Morgan

In related news, VP Michael P. Garthwaite sold 1,550 shares of the 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 sale, the vice president directly owned 41,743 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $1,312,399.92. This represents a 3.58% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. 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 shares were sold at an average price of $32.41, for a total transaction of $199,840.06. Following the transaction, the vice president owned 176,540 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,721,661.40. This trade represents a 3.37% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 21,598 shares of company stock valued at $693,689 over the last ninety days. 12.72% of the stock is currently owned by company insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KMI has been the subject of a number of analyst reports. Citigroup upped their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $28.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Monday, March 30th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $32.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 30th. UBS Group reissued a “buy” rating and set a $43.00 price target on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday, June 15th. Weiss Ratings lowered Kinder Morgan from a “buy (a-)” rating to a “buy (b+)” rating in a report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Finally, Zacks Research cut Kinder Morgan from a “strong-buy” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, June 23rd. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have assigned a Hold rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kinder Morgan presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $34.71.

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.