Good news on two fronts from dividend pick Kinder Morgan

Yesterday, July 19, Kinder Morgan (KMI) reported earnings per share of 15 cents, in line with Wall Street expectations. Revenues of $3.37 billion were ahead of the consensus estimate of $3.12 billion and represented year over year growth of 7.1%.
 
That was item one in the good news list. But more important to dividend investors waiting to hear when Kinder Morgan would begin to growth dividend payouts again, the company announced plans to increase dividends by 60% in 2018 and projected that dividends will increased by 25% a year from 2018 through 2020. (The dividend in 2017 is at 50 cents a share.)
 
Finally, Kinder Morgan’s board approved a $2 billion program to buy back shares.
 
Kinder Morgan shares were up 0.87% in the normal trading session and then zoomed ahead 4.63% in after-hours trading. The stock is a member of my Dividend Portfolio on the prospects for the kind of dividend increases projected today. The shares currently yield 2.53%. Kinder Morgan is up 10.75% since I added it to my portfolio on February 24, 2016. The shares are down 5.02% for 2017 through the close on Wednesday, July 19, and down 8.79% for the last 12 months.