Kinder Morgan (KMI) ) reported third quarter earnings today a scant penny a share above Wall Street’s projections at 15 cents a share. Revenue slipped 1.5% year over year to $3.28 billion but still exceeded expectations of $3.21 billion.
Most importantly–especially since I hold Kinder Morgan in my Dividend Portfolio–the company affirmed that it was on track to raise the annual dividend to 80 cents a share from the current 50 cents. (The dividend of 12.5 cents for the current quarter will be paid to shareholders of record as of October 31.) The company also said that it will generate enough cash in excess of dividend payments to fully fund its capital spending for 2018 out of operating cash flow without recourse to raising money in the financial markets.
The company listed about $3.1 billion in capital spending in 2017 on growth projects such as the Utopia Pipeline (expected to begin commissioning in November and to go into service in December.) At recent investor presentations the company has listed $12.5 billion in projects in its pipeline over the next five years. The pipeline is especially heavy in pipeline projects that will transport natural gas out of the booming Permian Basin to the Gulf Coast. For example, the company recently announced a joint venture with Large Resources (TRGP) to build the Gulf Coast Express Pipeline with a completion date of 2019.
Kinder Morgan also noted that Hurricane Harvey would have an estimated 2017 discount cash flow impact of about $20 million.
The stock yields 2.66% on the 50 cent annual dividend rate and 4.3% on the projected 80 cent dividend for 2018.
