Kinder Morgan’s dividend now sits at a juicy 6.1% yield, and its payout is well covered by its operating cash flows. Those operating cash flows held up even as it reduced its dividend, and that cash played a huge role in the company’s ability to shore up its balance sheet over the last several years.
Over 90% of Kinder Morgan’s operations are supported by contracts that are either fee based or “take or pay”. That means its fortunes are much more tied to the amount of oil and natural gas flowing through its pipelines than the price that energy fetches.
And despite the growth of renewable energy, according to the US Energy Information Administration, oil and natural gas use is expected to continue to increase over the next few decades. That points to continued demand for Kinder Morgan’s services. After all, pipelines tend to be both cost effective and among the safest ways to transport such energy. That all adds up to a fairly resilient business that looks likely to be able to continue delivering value even if we face turbulence in the not too distant future.
Solid businesses in different industries for uncertain times
Adding to the potential of your portfolio’s overall resiliency, JM Smucker, Prudential Financial, and Kinder Morgan all operate in different industries (food, insurance, and energy, respectively). That makes it more likely that an issue that knocks one of their businesses for a loop could leave the others relatively unscathed.