Freedom Investment Management Inc. Acquires New Holdings in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Freedom Investment Management Inc. purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) during the 3rd quarter, HoldingsChannel.com reports. The firm purchased 9,388 shares of the pipeline company’s stock, valued at approximately $207,000.

Several other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in the business. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC bought a new stake in Kinder Morgan during the third quarter valued at $28,000. HWG Holdings LP bought a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the 2nd quarter worth $30,000. Planning Capital Management Corp grew its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 143.6% during the third quarter. Planning Capital Management Corp now owns 1,352 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $30,000 after buying an additional 797 shares during the last quarter. Strategic Financial Concepts LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan in the second quarter worth approximately $31,000. Finally, HM Payson & Co. boosted its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 401.8% during the 3rd quarter. HM Payson & Co. now owns 1,430 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $32,000 after acquiring an additional 1,145 shares during the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is currently owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Kinder Morgan Stock Up 0.7 %

Shares of NYSE:KMI opened at $28.27 on Monday. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.47 and a 12-month high of $28.81. The stock has a market capitalization of $62.81 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 24.80, a PEG ratio of 4.07 and a beta of 0.91. The stock has a fifty day simple moving average of $25.20 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $22.15. The company has a current ratio of 0.46, a quick ratio of 0.35 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last announced its quarterly 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 during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.05 billion. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 7.87% and a net margin of 16.76%. The business’s revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. On average, research analysts anticipate that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The business 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 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.07%. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 100.88%.

Analyst Upgrades and Downgrades

Several research firms have weighed in on KMI. Barclays boosted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $22.00 to $24.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Monday, November 4th. Morgan Stanley set a $26.00 target price on shares of Kinder Morgan in a report on Friday, October 18th. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. UBS Group raised their price target on Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 15th. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company upped their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $22.00 to $27.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, October 17th. 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. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $25.67.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 19,121 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction on Wednesday, November 6th. The stock was sold at an average price of $26.28, for a total value of $502,499.88. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 897,652 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $23,590,294.56. The trade was a 2.09 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available at this link. Also, Director Amy W. Chronis acquired 2,241 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The shares were purchased at an average price of $24.89 per share, with a total value of $55,778.49. Following the transaction, the director now owns 23,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $597,235.55. The trade was a 10.30 % increase in their position. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. 12.64% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

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.