Kinder Morgan, Inc. $KMI Stock: Hennessy Advisors Inc. Lowers Position

Hennessy Advisors Inc. lowered its position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 3.1% in the 3rd quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC). The institutional investor owned 883,851 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 28,300 shares during the quarter. Kinder Morgan makes up approximately 1.0% of Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 27th biggest position. Hennessy Advisors Inc.’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $26,648,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of KMI. Ontario Teachers Pension Plan Board purchased a new stake in Kinder Morgan during the 2nd quarter valued at about $239,397,000. State Street Corp increased its stake in Kinder Morgan by 4.3% in the 2nd quarter. State Street Corp now owns 130,863,419 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,183,704,000 after purchasing an additional 5,361,578 shares during the period. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. increased its stake in Kinder Morgan by 220.9% in the 2nd quarter. Assenagon Asset Management S.A. now owns 3,915,696 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $125,185,000 after purchasing an additional 2,695,654 shares during the period. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund increased its stake in Kinder Morgan by 253.0% in the 1st quarter. Healthcare of Ontario Pension Plan Trust Fund now owns 2,994,968 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $100,421,000 after purchasing an additional 2,146,573 shares during the period. Finally, BlackRock Inc. lifted its position in Kinder Morgan by 1.1% in the second quarter. BlackRock Inc. now owns 175,834,246 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $5,621,421,000 after purchasing an additional 1,875,143 shares during the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Insider Activity

In related news, VP Michael Garthwaite sold 1,550 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Friday, October 16th. The stock was sold at an average price of $33.65, for a total value of $52,157.50. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president owned 47,313 shares in the company, valued at approximately $1,592,082.45. The trade was a 3.17% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Corporate insiders own 12.72% of the company’s stock.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

Shares of Kinder Morgan stock opened at $33.90 on Monday. The stock’s fifty day moving average is $32.06 and its 200 day moving average is $32.03. The stock has a market cap of $75.52 billion, a P/E ratio of 20.93, a P/E/G ratio of 2.36 and a beta of 0.59. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.55 and a current ratio of 0.67. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a one year low of $25.60 and a one year high of $34.81.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.35 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, beating analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.33 by $0.02. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 19.64% and a return on equity of 10.84%. The company had revenue of $4.53 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.37 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the firm posted $0.29 EPS. Kinder Morgan’s revenue for the quarter was up 9.3% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.57 earnings per share for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Monday, November 16th. Stockholders of record on Monday, November 2nd will be given a dividend of $0.2975 per share. This represents a $1.19 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 3.5%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, November 2nd. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is 73.46%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities research analysts have recently weighed in on the company. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $38.00 to $40.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 27th. Freedom Broker upgraded Kinder Morgan from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and upped their target price for the company from $34.00 to $39.00 in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Stifel Nicolaus started coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Wednesday, September 9th. They issued a “hold” rating and a $35.00 price target on the stock. Mizuho upped their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $37.00 to $39.00 and gave the stock an “outperform” rating in a report on Thursday, October 22nd. Finally, UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Tuesday, October 27th. Twelve research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and eleven have issued a Hold rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $37.15.

About Kinder Morgan

Kinder Morgan, Inc (NYSE: KMI) is an energy infrastructure company that owns and operates pipelines, terminals, and other transportation and storage facilities. Its systems primarily support the movement, processing, and storage of natural gas, crude oil, refined petroleum products, and other energy commodities.

The company’s natural gas business transports and stores natural gas for utilities, power generators, industrial customers, and other energy companies. Kinder Morgan also operates refined products and crude oil pipelines, liquids terminals, and carbon dioxide infrastructure.