Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) Shares Purchased by Daiwa Securities Group Inc.

Daiwa Securities Group Inc. lifted its position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 7.0% in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 289,877 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after acquiring an additional 18,997 shares during the period. Daiwa Securities Group Inc.’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $7,942,000 as of its most recent filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission.

A number of other large investors have also recently made changes to their positions in the company. Raymond James Financial Inc. acquired a new position in Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter valued at about $157,804,000. Amundi increased its position in Kinder Morgan by 28.9% in the 4th quarter. Amundi now owns 11,819,777 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $334,381,000 after acquiring an additional 2,650,040 shares during the period. Barclays PLC increased its position in Kinder Morgan by 39.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,186,207 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $180,833,000 after acquiring an additional 2,334,273 shares during the period. Fisher Funds Management LTD acquired a new position in Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter valued at about $62,534,000. Finally, National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Kinder Morgan by 295.5% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,937,055 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $64,879,000 after acquiring an additional 2,194,489 shares during the period. 62.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kinder Morgan Trading Up 1.2 %

Shares of KMI opened at $26.46 on Wednesday. The company has a current ratio of 0.49, a quick ratio of 0.39 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. The firm’s 50-day moving average is $27.67 and its two-hundred day moving average is $25.82. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a twelve month low of $17.45 and a twelve month high of $31.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $58.78 billion, a P/E ratio of 22.61, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were given a dividend of $0.2875 per share. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.35%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Kinder Morgan’s payout ratio is currently 98.29%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several equities analysts recently issued reports on the company. Morgan Stanley boosted their price target on Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Mizuho raised their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. The Goldman Sachs Group raised their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Barclays upgraded shares of Kinder Morgan from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 price objective for the company in a research report on Monday, March 3rd. Finally, JPMorgan Chase & Co. raised their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, March 5th. Seven analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, Kinder Morgan has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.64.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other news, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, February 18th. The shares were 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 in the company, valued at $5,881,148.65. The trade was a 25.48 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.61, for a total transaction of $478,980.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 825,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $21,970,599.72. This represents a 2.13 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last quarter, insiders sold 129,461 shares of company stock worth $3,490,996. Insiders own 12.64% of the company’s stock.

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.