Pipeline Giant Kinder Morgan Rebounds After Cutting Dividend
- Biggest North American pipeline owner moves to avoid downgrade
- Company says no need to tap equity markets through end of 2018
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Kinder Morgan Inc. slashed its full-year dividend by 74 percent to preserve cash it needs to keep growing while it repays $41 billion of debt, stemming a six-day stock slide that erased one-third of its value.
Kinder Morgan stockholders will receive payouts totaling 50 cents per share in 2016, the biggest North American pipeline owner said Tuesday in a statement. As recently as Nov. 18, the company was promising investors a 6 percent to 10 percent increase next year, but the freefall in oil prices cut cash flow and raised questions about Kinder’s ability to repay its debt.