Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. Increases Stock Position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Oppenheimer & Co. Inc. raised its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 7.7% in the first quarter, according to the company in its most recent filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 458,117 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 32,804 shares during the period. Oppenheimer & Co. Inc.’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $13,070,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds have also added to or reduced their stakes in KMI. Brighton Jones LLC purchased a new stake in Kinder Morgan during the 4th quarter valued at $308,000. Global Retirement Partners LLC raised its stake in Kinder Morgan by 4.0% during the 4th quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 23,729 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $650,000 after buying an additional 916 shares during the last quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC raised its stake in Kinder Morgan by 4.8% during the 4th quarter. Private Advisor Group LLC now owns 179,054 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $4,906,000 after buying an additional 8,273 shares during the last quarter. Centricity Wealth Management LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter worth $25,000. Finally, Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc increased its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 2.8% in the 4th quarter. Pinnacle Financial Partners Inc now owns 67,744 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $1,839,000 after purchasing an additional 1,824 shares in the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kinder Morgan Stock Up 1.6%

KMI opened at $28.01 on Monday. The firm has a 50-day simple moving average of $27.44 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $27.43. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $19.47 and a 52 week high of $31.48. The company has a market capitalization of $62.23 billion, a PE ratio of 24.14, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.74. The company has a quick ratio of 0.35, a current ratio of 0.45 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, April 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.34 EPS for the quarter, meeting analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.34. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 16.67% and a return on equity of 8.11%. The firm had revenue of $4.24 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.02 billion. Analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Increases Dividend

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Thursday, May 15th. Investors of record on Wednesday, April 30th were issued a $0.2925 dividend. This is an increase from Kinder Morgan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date was Wednesday, April 30th. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.18%. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio (DPR) is presently 100.86%.

Insider Activity at Kinder Morgan

In related news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, April 2nd. The shares were sold at an average price of $28.75, for a total value of $517,500.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now owns 807,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,219,995. This trade represents a 2.18% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. In the last quarter, insiders sold 54,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,522,440. Insiders own 12.73% of the company’s stock.

Analyst Ratings Changes

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, June 3rd. Royal Bank Of Canada upped their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Tuesday, April 29th. Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Monday, May 5th. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Tuesday, May 6th. Finally, Barclays upgraded Kinder Morgan from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 price objective for the company in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. Seven research analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating and seven have given a buy rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kinder Morgan presently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $30.21.

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.