Benedetti & Gucer Inc. Cuts Stake in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Benedetti & Gucer Inc. lessened its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 4.4% in the first quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The institutional investor owned 99,916 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 4,620 shares during the quarter. Kinder Morgan makes up about 0.9% of Benedetti & Gucer Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 20th largest position. Benedetti & Gucer Inc.’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $1,832,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in KMI. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter worth about $409,063,000. Confluence Investment Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan in the first quarter valued at approximately $87,627,000. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP boosted its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 45.9% in the 1st quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 9,959,947 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $182,665,000 after buying an additional 3,135,457 shares during the period. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP grew its stake in Kinder Morgan by 16.4% in the 4th quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,387,752 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $289,087,000 after buying an additional 2,309,550 shares in the last quarter. Finally, International Assets Investment Management LLC grew its stake in Kinder Morgan by 1,602.8% in the 4th quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,082,420 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $36,734,000 after buying an additional 1,960,125 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.52% of the company’s stock.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

Shares of KMI stock traded up $0.03 during trading on Friday, hitting $20.19. The company had a trading volume of 18,489,425 shares, compared to its average volume of 12,652,707. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $15.89 and a 52 week high of $20.32. The stock has a market capitalization of $44.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 18.35, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.18 and a beta of 0.93. The company has a quick ratio of 0.38, a current ratio of 0.50 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock’s 50-day moving average is $19.59 and its two-hundred day moving average is $18.39.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 17th. The pipeline company reported $0.34 earnings per share for the quarter, meeting the consensus estimate of $0.34. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 16.08% and a return on equity of 7.85%. The firm had revenue of $3.84 billion for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $4.36 billion. During the same quarter last year, the company posted $0.30 EPS. The business’s quarterly revenue was down 1.2% on a year-over-year basis. As a group, analysts predict that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Wednesday, May 15th. Stockholders of record on Tuesday, April 30th were given a dividend of $0.2875 per share. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, April 29th. This is a positive change from Kinder Morgan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.28. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 5.70%. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio is 104.55%.

Insider Activity at Kinder Morgan

In other Kinder Morgan news, Director Michael C. Morgan sold 230,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, April 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $18.82, for a total value of $4,328,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now owns 345,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,494,537.34. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which can be accessed through this link. In other Kinder Morgan news, Director Michael C. Morgan sold 230,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Monday, April 22nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $18.82, for a total value of $4,328,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the director now directly owns 345,087 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $6,494,537.34. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through the SEC website. Also, VP Dax Sanders sold 50,000 shares of the firm’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 transaction, the vice president now directly owns 259,069 shares in the company, valued at $5,116,612.75. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. 12.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Truist Financial reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $20.00 price target (down from $22.00) on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday, March 25th. Wells Fargo & Company raised Kinder Morgan from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $18.00 to $22.00 in a report on Tuesday, June 4th. UBS Group upped their price target on Kinder Morgan from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Wednesday, June 12th. Finally, Tudor Pickering upgraded shares of Kinder Morgan to a “strong-buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, May 30th. Five research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, four have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $21.00.

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.