Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) Shares Sold by Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.

Ameritas Investment Partners Inc. trimmed its holdings in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 7.1% during the first quarter, according to its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The firm owned 21,489 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 1,640 shares during the quarter. Ameritas Investment Partners Inc.’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $394,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors have also modified their holdings of the business. Rockport Wealth LLC acquired a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the 1st quarter valued at $342,000. Covestor Ltd increased its stake in Kinder Morgan by 41.4% in the 1st quarter. Covestor Ltd now owns 4,084 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $75,000 after buying an additional 1,196 shares during the period. Peak Asset Management LLC increased its stake in Kinder Morgan by 1.1% in the 1st quarter. Peak Asset Management LLC now owns 130,579 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,395,000 after buying an additional 1,384 shares during the period. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC increased its stake in Kinder Morgan by 4.7% in the 1st quarter. Catalytic Wealth RIA LLC now owns 58,503 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,073,000 after buying an additional 2,644 shares during the period. Finally, Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board increased its stake in Kinder Morgan by 245.0% in the 1st quarter. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board now owns 118,613 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $2,175,000 after buying an additional 84,236 shares during the period. 62.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insider Buying and Selling

In related news, VP Dax Sanders sold 50,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, May 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.75, for a total value of $987,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the vice president now owns 259,069 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,116,612.75. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at the SEC website. Insiders own 12.64% of the company’s stock.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several equities analysts have issued reports on KMI shares. Wells Fargo & Company raised shares of Kinder Morgan from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and boosted their price objective for the company from $18.00 to $22.00 in a research note on Tuesday, June 4th. Tudor Pickering raised shares of Kinder Morgan to a “strong-buy” rating in a research note on Thursday, May 30th. UBS Group boosted their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, June 12th. Argus upgraded shares of Kinder Morgan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and set a $24.00 target price on the stock in a research report on Friday, July 19th. Finally, Scotiabank boosted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $19.00 to $21.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Wednesday, July 17th. Five equities research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have assigned a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kinder Morgan has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $21.86.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

Shares of Kinder Morgan stock traded down $0.46 on Wednesday, hitting $21.16. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 13,320,778 shares, compared to its average volume of 14,113,382. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $15.89 and a 52-week high of $21.86. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.37 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.90. The firm has a fifty day moving average price of $19.87 and a 200-day moving average price of $18.55. The company has a market capitalization of $46.96 billion, a P/E ratio of 19.37, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.26 and a beta of 0.93.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last released its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 17th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.26 by ($0.01). Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 7.89% and a net margin of 15.93%. The business had revenue of $3.57 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.13 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned $0.24 earnings per share. Kinder Morgan’s quarterly revenue was up 2.0% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts expect that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, August 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, July 31st will be given a $0.2875 dividend. The ex-dividend date is Wednesday, July 31st. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.43%. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 104.55%.

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.