Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management Sells 54,162 Shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. $KMI

Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management cut its holdings in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 65.9% in the 3rd quarter, according to its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The fund owned 28,023 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after selling 54,162 shares during the period. Empirical Financial Services LLC d.b.a. Empirical Wealth Management’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $793,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

A number of other institutional investors and hedge funds have also recently modified their holdings of the stock. New Millennium Group LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 532.0% in the 3rd quarter. New Millennium Group LLC now owns 2,547 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $72,000 after acquiring an additional 2,144 shares during the last quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. increased its stake in Kinder Morgan by 0.6% in the 3rd quarter. Woodley Farra Manion Portfolio Management Inc. now owns 162,601 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $4,603,000 after purchasing an additional 1,026 shares during the period. King Luther Capital Management Corp lifted its position in Kinder Morgan by 0.9% in the third quarter. King Luther Capital Management Corp now owns 2,636,391 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $74,636,000 after purchasing an additional 22,421 shares during the last quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC boosted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 2.6% during the third quarter. Advisors Capital Management LLC now owns 2,834,730 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $80,251,000 after purchasing an additional 71,646 shares during the period. Finally, Axxcess Wealth Management LLC grew its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 7.2% in the third quarter. Axxcess Wealth Management LLC now owns 80,317 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $2,274,000 after purchasing an additional 5,383 shares during the last quarter. 62.52% of the stock is owned by institutional investors.

Kinder Morgan Stock Performance

Kinder Morgan stock opened at $32.71 on Tuesday. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a fifty-two week low of $23.94 and a fifty-two week high of $33.24. The stock’s 50 day simple moving average is $28.98 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $27.73. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a quick ratio of 0.50 and a current ratio of 0.64. The stock has a market cap of $72.77 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of 23.87, a PEG ratio of 2.70 and a beta of 0.70.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last announced its earnings results on Wednesday, January 21st. The pipeline company reported $0.39 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of $0.37 by $0.02. Kinder Morgan had a return on equity of 9.02% and a net margin of 18.04%.The firm had revenue of $4.51 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $4.33 billion. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned $0.30 EPS. The business’s revenue was up 13.1% compared to the same quarter last year. As a group, analysts expect that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.25 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The firm also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Tuesday, February 17th. Stockholders of record on Monday, February 2nd were issued a dividend of $0.2925 per share. This represents a $1.17 dividend on an annualized basis and a dividend yield of 3.6%. The ex-dividend date was Monday, February 2nd. Kinder Morgan’s payout ratio is 85.40%.

Insider Buying and Selling at Kinder Morgan

In other Kinder Morgan news, Director William A. Smith purchased 3,000 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, February 2nd. The stock was bought at an average cost of $29.75 per share, for a total transaction of $89,250.00. Following the purchase, the director directly owned 31,087 shares in the company, valued at $924,838.25. The trade was a 10.68% increase in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, VP John W. Schlosser sold 6,166 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction dated Thursday, February 5th. The stock was sold at an average price of $30.09, for a total transaction of $185,534.94. Following the sale, the vice president directly owned 195,038 shares in the company, valued at $5,868,693.42. The trade was a 3.06% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Insiders sold 46,498 shares of company stock valued at $1,382,115 over the last 90 days. 12.73% of the stock is owned by corporate insiders.

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

KMI has been the subject of a number of recent analyst reports. Freedom Capital upgraded shares of Kinder Morgan from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Wednesday, January 28th. Royal Bank Of Canada boosted their price target on Kinder Morgan from $28.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “sector perform” rating in a report on Thursday, November 13th. UBS Group reaffirmed a “buy” rating and set a $38.00 price target on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Friday, December 12th. TD Cowen lifted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $34.00 to $35.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Thursday, January 22nd. Finally, Stifel Nicolaus boosted their target price on Kinder Morgan from $29.00 to $30.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research note on Tuesday, November 11th. Nine analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating and six have assigned a Hold rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Kinder Morgan has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $32.38.

About Kinder Morgan

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.