Covered, at a fuller payout. A 3.46% yield on a 73.82% earnings payout is covered, but fuller than most House cards — the cushion is in cash flow, where distributable cash flow covered the dividend about 2.1 times in fiscal 2025. The $0.2975 quarterly rate, raised about 2% in 2026, keeps a post-2015-cut rebuild on track.
Key risk: The 2015 cut still shadows the record — Kinder Morgan slashed its dividend in 2015, and today's 73.82% earnings payout leaves less room if project spending or interest costs rise faster than contracted cash flows.
Changes if: Distributable cash flow coverage falls toward 1 times, or the earnings payout pushes well past 73.82%. Cash-flow coverage, not just earnings coverage, is the tripwire here.
- !Payout-coverage check: 73.82% trailing earnings payout — fuller than most House cards; on cash flow the picture is easier, with distributable cash flow covering the dividend about 2.1 times in fiscal 2025.
- ✓Yield check: 3.46% indicated — $0.2975/qtr × 4 at the $34.43 close on Oct. 23, 2026. Real, earned yield.
- ✓Dividend growth check: Raised about 2% in 2026 to $0.2975, extending a run of annual increases that began after the 2015 cut.
What this grade doesn't say: It screens the dividend only — covered, real, compounding. It says nothing about valuation or price: a well-covered payer can still be overpriced, and its price can still fall.