Blankinship & Foster LLC Trims Stock Position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Blankinship & Foster LLC lessened its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 68.0% during the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 14,987 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 31,913 shares during the period. Blankinship & Foster LLC’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $411,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the business. Generali Investments CEE investicni spolecnost a.s. bought a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan during the 4th quarter valued at $520,000. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. boosted its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 2.5% during the 4th quarter. PNC Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 419,050 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $11,482,000 after buying an additional 10,295 shares in the last quarter. RKL Wealth Management LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan during the 4th quarter valued at $719,000. Aviance Capital Partners LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan during the 4th quarter valued at $276,000. Finally, Oak Hill Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter worth about $247,000. Institutional investors own 62.52% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

A number of equities analysts recently issued reports on the stock. Barclays upgraded shares of Kinder Morgan from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 price target on the stock in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Citigroup upped their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, January 29th. Wells Fargo & Company upped their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research note on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Friday, January 10th. They issued a “sector perform” rating and a $26.00 price target on the stock. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.64.

Insider Activity

In other news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $27.70, for a total transaction of $498,600.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 843,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,369,160.40. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this link. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of the stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.65, for a total transaction of $2,011,035.65. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president now directly owns 220,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,881,148.65. This represents a 25.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold 129,461 shares of company stock valued at $3,490,996 in the last quarter. 12.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

NYSE KMI opened at $26.14 on Friday. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $17.45 and a 52 week high of $31.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.09 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.35, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The company has a 50-day moving average price of $27.71 and a 200-day moving average price of $25.68.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 22nd. The pipeline company reported $0.32 EPS for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.01). Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 17.31% and a return on equity of 8.09%. Equities research analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.2875 per share. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.40%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Kinder Morgan’s payout ratio is currently 98.29%.

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.