Kinder Morgan Inc (KMI) Down After Second Quarter Earnings Miss: Did The Smart Money See It Coming?

How have hedgies been trading Kinder Morgan Inc (NYSE:KMI)?

According to hedge fund experts at Insider Monkey, FPR Partners, managed by Bob Peck and Andy Raab, holds the most valuable position in Kinder Morgan Inc. FPR Partners has a $228.3 million position in the stock, comprising 5.9% of its 13F portfolio. Peck and Raab also have a large $174.1 million position of call options on the stock; a further 4.5% of their 13F portfolio is allocated to that holding. Other peers with similar optimism contain Leon Cooperman’s Omega Advisors, Jody LaNasa and Vivian Lau’s Serengeti Asset Management, and Glenn Greenberg’s Brave Warrior Capital.

Due to the fact that Kinder Morgan Inc (NYSE:KMI) has faced bearish sentiment from the smart money, it’s safe to say that there lies a certain “tier” of hedgies that slashed their positions entirely in the first quarter. It’s worth mentioning that Eric W. Mandelblatt‘s Soroban Capital Partners said goodbye to the biggest investment of the 700 funds followed by Insider Monkey, totaling an estimated $306.7 million in stock. Bain Capital’s fund, Brookside Capital, also dropped its stock, about $175.1 million worth. These moves are important to note, as aggregate hedge fund interest dropped by five funds in the first quarter.

In Thursday trading, Kinder Morgan is down by 0.48%. Looking at the company’s performance in the second quarter and considering its projections for both earnings and dividends for the year, it’s likely that more investors might consider it a buy. Analysts at Zacks have upgraded the stock to a “Hold” from a “Sell”, in a report note issued on Wednesday ahead of the company’s earnings results. We have to agree at this point that we can’t recommend a buy, but would refrain from selling also.

Disclosure: None