Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. Buys Shares of 99,841 Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Measured Risk Portfolios Inc. bought a new stake in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) in the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel.com reports. The institutional investor bought 99,841 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $2,736,000. Kinder Morgan comprises about 2.9% of Measured Risk Portfolios Inc.’s portfolio, making the stock its 5th biggest position.

A number of other institutional investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC bought a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter valued at approximately $25,000. Centricity Wealth Management LLC bought a new position in Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Hurley Capital LLC bought a new position in Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter worth $25,000. Morse Asset Management Inc bought a new position in Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter worth $27,000. Finally, Heck Capital Advisors LLC bought a new position in Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter worth $29,000. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Kinder Morgan news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, March 5th. The shares were sold at an average price of $26.61, for a total transaction of $478,980.00. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 825,652 shares in the company, valued at $21,970,599.72. This represents a 2.13% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available at the SEC website. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on 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 owns 220,681 shares in the company, valued at approximately $5,881,148.65. The trade was a 25.48% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold 129,461 shares of company stock worth $3,503,776 over the last ninety days. Corporate insiders own 12.73% of the company’s stock.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

NYSE KMI opened at $27.31 on Tuesday. 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 fifty day moving average price is $27.03 and its two-hundred day moving average price is $27.23. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $18.83 and a 1 year high of $31.48. The firm has a market capitalization of $60.68 billion, a P/E ratio of 23.34, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.74.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last issued its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, April 16th. 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 17.31% and a return on equity of 8.09%. The company had revenue of $4.24 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.02 billion. As a group, research analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 EPS for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Increases Dividend

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Thursday, May 15th. Shareholders of record on Wednesday, April 30th will be paid a dividend of $0.2925 per share. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.28%. This is an increase from Kinder Morgan’s previous quarterly dividend of $0.29. The ex-dividend date of this dividend is Wednesday, April 30th. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio is presently 100.86%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several equities research analysts have issued reports on the stock. Barclays raised 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 report on Monday, March 3rd. Citigroup boosted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 29th. Royal Bank of Canada boosted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a report on Tuesday, April 29th. UBS Group lifted their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $38.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, January 27th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company restated an “overweight” rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Monday, May 5th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $29.79.

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.