Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund Cuts Stock Holdings in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund trimmed its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 8.2% in the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 57,170 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 5,108 shares during the period. Kentucky Retirement Systems Insurance Trust Fund’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $1,263,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors and hedge funds have also modified their holdings of the company. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC acquired a new position in Kinder Morgan during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Pathway Financial Advisers LLC purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan during the 1st quarter worth approximately $30,000. HWG Holdings LP purchased a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 143.6% during the 3rd quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 1,352 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 797 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new position in Kinder Morgan during the second quarter worth $31,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 62.52% of the company’s stock.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

Kinder Morgan stock opened at $27.27 on Monday. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $23.84 and its 200-day moving average is $21.50. The company has a market cap of $60.58 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.92, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.75 and a beta of 0.91. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 12 month low of $16.47 and a 12 month high of $27.58. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.02). Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 16.76% and a return on equity of 7.87%. The business had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.05 billion. During the same period last year, the firm earned $0.25 earnings per share. The company’s quarterly revenue was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. Equities analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.2875 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.22%. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several analysts have recently issued reports on KMI shares. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $22.00 to $27.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. Morgan Stanley set a $26.00 price target on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group reissued a “conviction-buy” rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 target price on the stock. Finally, Barclays boosted their price target on Kinder Morgan from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company an “equal weight” rating in a report on Monday, November 4th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and two have given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $25.36.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kinder Morgan

In other Kinder Morgan news, Director C Park Shaper sold 690,142 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, October 21st. The shares were sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total value of $17,081,014.50. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 6,809,858 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $168,543,985.50. This trade represents a 9.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Thomas A. Martin sold 19,121 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.28, for a total transaction of $502,499.88. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 897,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,590,294.56. The trade was a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.64% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

About Kinder Morgan

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.