Applied Finance Capital Management LLC Purchases 29,972 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Applied Finance Capital Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 538.0% in the fourth quarter, according to its most recent disclosure with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The firm owned 35,543 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 29,972 shares during the quarter. Applied Finance Capital Management LLC’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $974,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other hedge funds have also recently made changes to their positions in KMI. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter worth approximately $25,000. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Kinder Morgan during the 4th quarter worth about $25,000. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new position in Kinder Morgan during the 4th quarter valued at about $27,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan in the 4th quarter valued at about $29,000. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

Kinder Morgan stock opened at $25.31 on Tuesday. The company has a fifty day simple moving average of $27.15 and a 200-day simple moving average of $26.67. The firm has a market capitalization of $56.25 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.64, a PEG ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.72. The company has a quick ratio of 0.39, a current ratio of 0.49 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 52-week low of $17.61 and a 52-week high of $31.48.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The pipeline company reported $0.32 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, equities analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 3rd were paid a $0.2875 dividend. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.54%. The ex-dividend date of this dividend was Monday, February 3rd. Kinder Morgan’s payout ratio is 98.29%.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

A number of research firms have recently weighed in on KMI. Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Scotiabank assumed coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Friday, January 10th. They set a “sector perform” rating and a $26.00 price objective on the stock. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research note on Wednesday, March 5th. Morgan Stanley lifted their price target on Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $36.00 in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Kinder Morgan from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 price objective on the stock in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Seven research 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 company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Kinder Morgan has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $29.64.

Insider Activity at Kinder Morgan

In other Kinder Morgan news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.70, for a total transaction of $498,600.00. Following the sale, the president now owns 843,652 shares in the company, valued at $23,369,160.40. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The sale 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 Kinder Morgan 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 transaction, the vice president now owns 220,681 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $5,881,148.65. This represents a 25.48 % 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 $3,506,116. Corporate insiders own 12.64% of the company’s stock.

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.