Van ECK Associates Corp Raises Stock Holdings in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Van ECK Associates Corp grew its stake in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 10.4% in the fourth quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The institutional investor owned 735,523 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 69,071 shares during the quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $20,153,000 as of its most recent SEC filing.

A number of other hedge funds and other institutional investors have also bought and sold shares of KMI. Retirement Wealth Solutions LLC purchased a new stake in Kinder Morgan in the fourth quarter worth about $25,000. Modus Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter worth about $27,000. Northwest Investment Counselors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan during the third quarter worth about $28,000. Heck Capital Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Kinder Morgan during the fourth quarter worth about $29,000. Finally, Planning Capital Management Corp grew its position 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 worth $30,000 after purchasing an additional 797 shares in the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 62.52% of the company’s stock.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research firms recently issued reports on KMI. The Goldman Sachs Group increased their target price on Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 26th. Citigroup increased their target price on Kinder Morgan from $25.00 to $28.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 29th. Barclays increased their target price on Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $31.00 and gave the stock an “equal weight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 16th. Mizuho increased their target price on Kinder Morgan from $31.00 to $33.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 23rd. Finally, Wells Fargo & Company raised their price target on Kinder Morgan from $30.00 to $33.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a report on Thursday, January 23rd. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a hold rating, six have given a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $29.14.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Kinder Morgan news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 2nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.91, for a total transaction of $502,380.00. Following the transaction, the president now directly owns 861,652 shares in the company, valued at $24,048,707.32. This trade represents a 2.05 % decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. In the last three months, insiders sold 54,000 shares of company stock valued at $1,493,100. Insiders own 12.64% of the company’s stock.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

NYSE:KMI opened at $26.61 on Friday. The firm has a market capitalization of $59.11 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 22.74, a PEG ratio of 3.16 and a beta of 0.94. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $16.51 and a 1 year high of $31.48. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $27.82 and a 200-day simple moving average of $25.06. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.94, a current ratio of 0.49 and a quick ratio of 0.35.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, January 22nd. The pipeline company reported $0.32 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.33 by ($0.01). Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 17.31% and a return on equity of 8.09%. Equities analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.23 EPS for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The firm also recently declared a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 18th. Investors of record on Monday, February 3rd will be paid a dividend of $0.2875 per share. This represents a $1.15 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 4.32%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 3rd. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 98.29%.

Kinder Morgan 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.