Russell Investments Group Ltd. Purchases 512,097 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Russell Investments Group Ltd. increased its position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 21.5% during the fourth quarter, Holdings Channel reports. The firm owned 2,892,776 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 512,097 shares during the quarter. Russell Investments Group Ltd.’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $79,256,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

Other hedge funds have also bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its stake in Kinder Morgan by 0.7% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 202,846,078 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $5,557,983,000 after buying an additional 1,469,759 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC raised its stake in Kinder Morgan by 2.5% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 51,759,844 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,414,813,000 after acquiring an additional 1,252,609 shares during the period. Norges Bank acquired a new stake in Kinder Morgan during the 4th quarter valued at $917,523,000. Bank of New York Mellon Corp boosted its position in Kinder Morgan by 8.6% during the fourth quarter. Bank of New York Mellon Corp now owns 13,734,753 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $376,332,000 after purchasing an additional 1,093,242 shares during the period. Finally, Amundi increased its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 28.9% in the fourth quarter. Amundi now owns 11,819,777 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $334,381,000 after purchasing an additional 2,650,040 shares during the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kinder Morgan Stock Down 8.9 %

Shares of KMI opened at $25.27 on Friday. The firm has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $26.61. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.39. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a one year low of $17.61 and a one year high of $31.48. The company has a market cap of $56.14 billion, a P/E ratio of 21.59, a P/E/G ratio of 3.08 and a beta of 0.94.

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

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The business also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors 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 4.55%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 3rd. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio is 98.29%.

Insider Activity at Kinder Morgan

In other news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.70, for a total value of $498,600.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the president now directly owns 843,652 shares in the company, valued at approximately $23,369,160.40. This represents a 2.09 % decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 75,461 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.65, for a total value of $2,011,035.65. Following the sale, the vice president now owns 220,681 shares in the company, valued at $5,881,148.65. This represents a 25.48 % decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders sold a total of 129,461 shares of company stock valued at $3,506,116 in the last quarter. Insiders own 12.81% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several analysts recently commented on the stock. Barclays raised shares of Kinder Morgan from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and set a $31.00 target price for the company in a report on Monday, March 3rd. Morgan Stanley boosted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $36.00 in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Royal Bank of Canada increased their target price on Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Monday, March 3rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. upped their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $28.00 to $29.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a report on Wednesday, March 5th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company lifted their target price on Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Seven investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, seven have issued a buy rating and one has assigned a strong buy rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, Kinder Morgan has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.64.

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.