Argent Trust Co Reduces Position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Argent Trust Co reduced its position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 1.4% during the second quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 72,658 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,000 shares during the quarter. Argent Trust Co’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $1,444,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

Several other institutional investors have also added to or reduced their stakes in KMI. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 15.8% in the first quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 199,888,911 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $3,665,963,000 after buying an additional 27,254,172 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its position in Kinder Morgan by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,904,252 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $335,891,000 after acquiring an additional 257,658 shares during the last quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC increased its stake in Kinder Morgan by 23.6% in the first quarter. Clearbridge Investments LLC now owns 11,130,639 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $204,319,000 after purchasing an additional 2,125,648 shares during the period. Energy Income Partners LLC lifted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 2.6% during the first quarter. Energy Income Partners LLC now owns 10,717,452 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $196,558,000 after purchasing an additional 272,648 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP boosted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 45.9% during the first quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 9,959,947 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $182,665,000 after purchasing an additional 3,135,457 shares during the period. Institutional investors own 62.52% of the company’s stock.

Kinder Morgan Trading Up 0.3 %

KMI opened at $21.62 on Thursday. The company has a current ratio of 0.37, a quick ratio of 0.28 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm has a market cap of $47.98 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 19.65, a PEG ratio of 2.90 and a beta of 0.93. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 12 month low of $15.89 and a 12 month high of $21.86. The stock has a fifty day moving average price of $21.10 and a 200-day moving average price of $19.67.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last posted its earnings results on Wednesday, July 17th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.26 by ($0.01). The company had revenue of $3.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.13 billion. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 15.93% and a return on equity of 7.89%. Kinder Morgan’s revenue for the quarter was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter last year, the firm earned $0.24 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.19 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st were given a dividend of $0.2875 per share. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 5.32%. Kinder Morgan’s payout ratio is 104.55%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kinder Morgan

In other news, VP Sital K. Mody sold 21,413 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.25, for a total transaction of $455,026.25. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,169 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $534,841.25. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is accessible through the SEC website. In related news, VP Sital K. Mody sold 21,413 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, July 24th. The stock was sold at an average price of $21.25, for a total transaction of $455,026.25. Following the transaction, the vice president now directly owns 25,169 shares in the company, valued at approximately $534,841.25. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. Also, President Thomas A. Martin sold 100,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Thursday, August 1st. The shares were sold at an average price of $21.01, for a total value of $2,101,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 916,773 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,261,400.73. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 148,311 shares of company stock worth $3,121,891 over the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.64% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $21.00 to $22.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 13th. Morgan Stanley raised shares of Kinder Morgan from an “underweight” rating to an “equal weight” rating and set a $24.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Monday. Wells Fargo & Company upgraded Kinder Morgan from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price target for the company from $18.00 to $22.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. UBS Group raised their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Wednesday, September 11th. Finally, Tudor Pickering upgraded Kinder Morgan to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Thursday, May 30th. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have given a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company currently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus price target of $22.55.

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.