Principal Financial Group Inc. Boosts Stock Position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. $KMI

Principal Financial Group Inc. increased its holdings in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 0.4% during the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the SEC. The fund owned 4,403,580 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after purchasing an additional 19,355 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc.’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $124,665,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also made changes to their positions in KMI. Vanguard Group Inc. lifted its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 1.5% in the 2nd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 207,219,481 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $6,092,253,000 after acquiring an additional 3,070,609 shares during the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 1.2% in the 2nd quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 51,848,863 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $1,518,195,000 after purchasing an additional 599,152 shares during the last quarter. Norges Bank purchased a new position in shares of Kinder Morgan in the 2nd quarter worth approximately $1,162,802,000. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd increased its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 3.1% during the 2nd quarter. Orbis Allan Gray Ltd now owns 22,635,179 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $665,474,000 after purchasing an additional 670,856 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Invesco Ltd. raised its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 2.8% during the 2nd quarter. Invesco Ltd. now owns 21,949,329 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $645,310,000 after buying an additional 603,197 shares during the period. 62.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

Kinder Morgan stock opened at $29.61 on Tuesday. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.64 and a quick ratio of 0.49. The stock has a market cap of $65.87 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 21.61, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 2.47 and a beta of 0.70. The firm has a 50-day moving average of $27.63 and a two-hundred day moving average of $27.30. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 1 year low of $23.94 and a 1 year high of $30.57.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last posted its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.39 earnings per share for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.02. Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 18.04% and a return on equity of 9.02%. The firm had revenue of $4.51 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.33 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the firm posted $0.30 earnings per share. The company’s revenue was up 13.1% on a year-over-year basis. On average, research analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which will be paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Shareholders of record on Monday, February 2nd will be issued a $0.2925 dividend. This represents a $1.17 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.0%. The ex-dividend date is Monday, February 2nd. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio is currently 85.40%.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

Several research analysts have commented on KMI shares. Scotiabank lifted their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Friday, January 23rd. Royal Bank Of Canada lifted their price target on shares of Kinder Morgan from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the stock a “sector perform” rating in a research note on Thursday, November 13th. Freedom Capital raised shares of Kinder Morgan from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Wednesday, January 28th. UBS Group restated a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 target price on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Friday, December 12th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “buy (b)” rating on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Nine equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have given a Hold rating to the company’s stock. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.38.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, CFO David Patrick Michels sold 20,000 shares of Kinder Morgan stock in a transaction dated Thursday, January 22nd. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.00, for a total value of $600,000.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 139,428 shares in the company, valued at $4,182,840. The trade was a 12.54% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the SEC, which is available through the SEC website. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 6,166 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, January 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.49, for a total transaction of $169,503.34. Following the completion of the sale, the vice president directly owned 201,204 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $5,531,097.96. This trade represents a 2.97% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 38,498 shares of company stock worth $1,107,462 in the last three months. Corporate insiders own 12.73% of the company’s stock.

Kinder Morgan Company Profile

Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI) is a large energy infrastructure company that owns and operates an extensive network of pipelines and terminals across North America. Its core activities center on the transportation, storage and handling of energy products, including natural gas, natural gas liquids (NGLs), crude oil, refined petroleum products and carbon dioxide. The company’s assets include long-haul and gathering pipelines, storage facilities, and multi-modal terminals that serve producers, refiners, utilities and industrial customers.

Kinder Morgan’s operations deliver midstream services such as pipeline transportation, terminaling, storage and related logistics and maintenance.