Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI) Shares Purchased by Franklin Resources Inc.

Franklin Resources Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan, Inc. (NYSE:KMI - Free Report) by 44.0% during the third quarter, according to the company in its most recent Form 13F filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission. The firm owned 1,142,956 shares of the pipeline company's stock after acquiring an additional 349,158 shares during the quarter. Franklin Resources Inc. owned 0.05% of Kinder Morgan worth $25,248,000 at the end of the most recent quarter.

Several other large investors have also recently added to or reduced their stakes in KMI. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. boosted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 0.7% during the 3rd quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 4,591,311 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $101,422,000 after purchasing an additional 29,861 shares in the last quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC lifted its stake in shares of Kinder Morgan by 3.5% in the third quarter. Global Retirement Partners LLC now owns 22,813 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $504,000 after purchasing an additional 776 shares during the period. Principal Financial Group Inc. boosted its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 3.2% during the third quarter. Principal Financial Group Inc. now owns 2,291,704 shares of the pipeline company's stock worth $50,624,000 after buying an additional 71,984 shares in the last quarter. Czech National Bank increased its holdings in Kinder Morgan by 6.9% in the third quarter. Czech National Bank now owns 393,351 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $8,689,000 after buying an additional 25,406 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Valley National Advisers Inc. lifted its position in shares of Kinder Morgan by 1,512.7% during the 3rd quarter. Valley National Advisers Inc. now owns 88,583 shares of the pipeline company's stock valued at $1,956,000 after acquiring an additional 83,090 shares during the period. 62.52% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several research firms recently weighed in on KMI. Stifel Nicolaus raised their price objective on Kinder Morgan from $22.00 to $23.00 and gave the company a "hold" rating in a research note on Tuesday, August 27th. UBS Group raised their price target on Kinder Morgan from $33.00 to $34.00 and gave the company a "buy" rating in a research report on Friday, December 6th. Bank of America started coverage on shares of Kinder Morgan in a research report on Thursday, October 17th. They issued a "buy" rating and a $27.00 price objective on the stock. Wells Fargo & Company raised their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $27.00 to $30.00 and gave the company an "overweight" rating in a report on Wednesday. Finally, The Goldman Sachs Group lifted their target price on shares of Kinder Morgan from $26.00 to $29.00 and gave the stock a "buy" rating in a research 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's stock. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus target price of $26.25.

Kinder Morgan Trading Up 2.3 %

KMI stock traded up $0.61 during midday trading on Friday, hitting $26.85. The stock had a trading volume of 28,503,473 shares, compared to its average volume of 13,857,946. The company's 50-day moving average price is $26.39 and its 200 day moving average price is $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 firm has a market cap of $59.65 billion, a PE ratio of 23.55, a price-to-earnings-growth ratio of 3.88 and a beta of 0.95. Kinder Morgan, Inc. has a 12-month low of $16.47 and a 12-month high of $28.81.

Kinder Morgan (NYSE:KMI - Get Free Report) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, October 16th. The pipeline company reported $0.25 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 business had revenue of $3.70 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts' expectations of $4.05 billion. During the same period in the prior year, the firm earned $0.25 EPS. Kinder Morgan's revenue for the quarter was down 5.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts predict that Kinder Morgan, Inc. will post 1.18 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Kinder Morgan Announces Dividend

The business also recently announced a quarterly dividend, which was paid on Friday, November 15th. Investors of record on Thursday, October 31st were given a $0.2875 dividend. The ex-dividend date was Thursday, October 31st. This represents a $1.15 annualized dividend and a dividend yield of 4.28%. Kinder Morgan's dividend payout ratio is presently 100.88%.

Insider Activity at Kinder Morgan

In other Kinder Morgan news, President Thomas A. Martin sold 18,000 shares of the business's stock in a transaction dated Wednesday, December 4th. The stock was sold at an average price of $27.34, for a total transaction of $492,120.00. Following the completion of the sale, the president now owns 879,652 shares of the company's stock, valued at approximately $24,049,685.68. The trade was a 2.01 % decrease in their ownership of the stock. The transaction was disclosed in a legal filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Amy W. Chronis purchased 2,241 shares of the company's stock in a transaction 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 completion of the purchase, 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 three months, insiders sold 727,263 shares of company stock worth $18,075,634. 12.64% of the stock is owned by company 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.