Principal Financial Group Inc. Grows Stock Position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Principal Financial Group Inc. grew its stake in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 3.2% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent filing with the SEC. The firm owned 2,291,704 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 71,984 shares during the quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $50,624,000 as of its most recent filing with the SEC.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KMI. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP lifted its stake in Kinder Morgan by 1.5% in the second quarter. Dimensional Fund Advisors LP now owns 16,904,252 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $335,891,000 after acquiring an additional 257,658 shares during the last quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP raised its stake in Kinder Morgan by 0.7% in the third quarter. Kayne Anderson Capital Advisors LP now owns 10,550,002 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $233,050,000 after buying an additional 69,307 shares in the last quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP lifted its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 2.0% during the 2nd quarter. First Pacific Advisors LP now owns 8,198,954 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $162,913,000 after buying an additional 163,294 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC boosted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 39.9% during the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,186,207 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $180,833,000 after acquiring an additional 2,334,273 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP increased its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 20.6% in the 2nd quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 7,770,943 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $154,409,000 after acquiring an additional 1,328,082 shares during the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

KMI has been the subject of several research analyst reports. Wells Fargo & Company upped their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Wednesday, December 18th. Bank of America started coverage on Kinder Morgan in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They set a “buy” rating and a $27.00 target price on the stock. Morgan Stanley set a $26.00 target price on Kinder Morgan in a research report on Friday, October 18th. Royal Bank of Canada lifted their price target on Kinder Morgan from $24.00 to $26.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research report on Tuesday, October 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a report on Tuesday, August 27th. Eight investment analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, five have issued a buy rating and one has issued a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $26.25.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kinder Morgan

In other Kinder Morgan news, Director Amy W. Chronis bought 2,241 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were acquired at an average price of $24.89 per share, with a total value of $55,778.49. Following the purchase, the director now owns 23,995 shares in the company, valued at approximately $597,235.55. The trade was a 10.30 % increase in their position. The purchase was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this link. Also, President Thomas A. Martin sold 19,121 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.28, for a total transaction of $502,499.88. Following the sale, the president now directly owns 897,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $23,590,294.56. This trade represents a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 727,263 shares of company stock valued at $18,075,634. Company insiders own 12.64% of the company’s stock.

Kinder Morgan Trading Up 2.3 %

Kinder Morgan stock opened at $26.85 on Monday. The stock has a market cap of $59.65 billion, a PE ratio of 23.55, a P/E/G ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.95. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $26.44 and a 200 day moving average price of $22.93. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 52 week low of $16.47 and a 52 week high of $28.81.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, October 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.27 by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.05 billion. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 16.76%. The firm’s revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the business posted $0.25 EPS. Equities research analysts predict that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were issued a $0.2875 dividend. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a yield of 4.28%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Kinder Morgan’s payout ratio is currently 100.88%.

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.