Franklin Resources Inc. Has $25.25 Million Stock Position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI)

Franklin Resources Inc. boosted its position in Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) by 44.0% during the third quarter, according to its most recent 13F filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The fund owned 1,142,956 shares of the pipeline company’s stock after buying an additional 349,158 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc.’s holdings in Kinder Morgan were worth $25,248,000 at the end of the most recent reporting period.

Other institutional investors have also recently bought and sold shares of the company. Duquesne Family Office LLC grew its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 74.0% in the second quarter. Duquesne Family Office LLC now owns 6,753,165 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $134,185,000 after purchasing an additional 2,872,665 shares during the last quarter. Barclays PLC grew its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 39.9% in the 3rd quarter. Barclays PLC now owns 8,186,207 shares of the pipeline company’s stock valued at $180,833,000 after buying an additional 2,334,273 shares during the last quarter. National Bank of Canada FI increased its position in Kinder Morgan by 295.5% in the 3rd quarter. National Bank of Canada FI now owns 2,937,055 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $64,879,000 after buying an additional 2,194,489 shares during the period. International Assets Investment Management LLC increased its position in Kinder Morgan by 1,849.7% in the 3rd quarter. International Assets Investment Management LLC now owns 2,164,637 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $47,817,000 after buying an additional 2,053,612 shares during the period. Finally, Marshall Wace LLP lifted its holdings in shares of Kinder Morgan by 20.6% during the second quarter. Marshall Wace LLP now owns 7,770,943 shares of the pipeline company’s stock worth $154,409,000 after buying an additional 1,328,082 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors own 62.52% of the company’s stock.

Kinder Morgan Price Performance

Kinder Morgan stock opened at $26.24 on Friday. The business has a 50 day simple moving average of $26.39 and a 200 day simple moving average of $22.86. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.95, a current ratio of 0.46 and a quick ratio of 0.35. The company has a market capitalization of $58.30 billion, a PE ratio of 23.02, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.95. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a one year low of $16.47 and a one year high of $28.81.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI) last issued its quarterly earnings data 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). Kinder Morgan had a net margin of 16.76% and a return on equity of 7.87%. The company had revenue of $3.70 billion for the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $4.05 billion. During the same period in the previous year, the business posted $0.25 earnings per share. The firm’s revenue was down 5.3% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, sell-side analysts forecast that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.18 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Dividend Announcement

The company also recently disclosed a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Shareholders of record on Thursday, October 31st were paid a dividend of $0.2875 per share. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a yield of 4.38%. Kinder Morgan’s dividend payout ratio is 100.88%.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of brokerages recently issued reports on KMI. UBS Group boosted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Stifel Nicolaus upped their price objective on shares of Kinder Morgan from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a “hold” rating in a research report on Tuesday, August 27th. Bank of America began coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research note on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a “buy” rating and a $27.00 target price for the company. Morgan Stanley set a $26.00 price target on Kinder Morgan in a report on Friday, October 18th. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, November 26th. Eight equities research 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 has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $26.25.

Insider Transactions at Kinder Morgan

In other news, Director C Park Shaper sold 690,142 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, October 21st. The stock was sold at an average price of $24.75, for a total transaction of $17,081,014.50. Following the sale, the director now owns 6,809,858 shares in the company, valued at approximately $168,543,985.50. This represents a 9.20 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Amy W. Chronis purchased 2,241 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, November 5th. The stock was acquired at an average cost of $24.89 per share, with a total value of $55,778.49. Following the completion of the acquisition, the director now directly owns 23,995 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $597,235.55. The trade was a 10.30 % increase in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this purchase can be found here. Over the last 90 days, insiders sold 727,263 shares of company stock valued at $18,075,634. Corporate insiders own 12.64% of the company’s stock.

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.