Did Kinder Morgan Break Its Dividend Promise?
Midstream industry giant Kinder Morgan (NYSE: KMI) has done incredible things with its dividend in recent years, doubling it between 2017 and 2019. As part of those dividend plans from a few years ago, it promised another sizable increase in 2020. When the time came, though, its 2020 dividend hike came up well short of its original plan. What's going on and is there a reason to worry? The company's history on the dividend front suggests at least some concern is in order.
At the end of 2015 Kinder Morgan was paying a quarterly dividend of $0.51 per share. In late October of that year, when the company announced the fourth-quarter dividend (which was increased by a penny over the third quarter), CEO Richard Kinder noted that, "As a company, we remain focused on our goals to continue to return cash to our shareholders in increasing amounts, to maintain our investment grade ratings and leverage targets while funding our business in the most efficient and economical way possible." Notice that dividends came first in that list.
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Source Fool.com
