Kinder Morgan Unveils Preliminary 2026 Guidance

Kinder Morgan KMI has provided a glimpse of its 2026 forecast. The projection showed growth from its 2025 guidance, announced during the third-quarter earnings call. The midstream energy major anticipated 4% increase in adjusted EBITDA to $8.7 billion. Similarly, it expects adjusted EPS of $1.37 per share implying growth of around 8%.

Kinder Morgan also projects increasing its annualized dividend for the ninth consecutive year to $1.19 per share. The company intends to keep its net debt to adjusted EBITDA leverage ratio to around 3.8, representing the lower end of its long-term target band of 3.5–4.5.

For 2026, KMI also plans $3.4 billion in discretionary capital expenditure. The spending which includes expansion projects and contributions to joint ventures will be funded through internally generated cash flows. This represents the stable business model of Kinder Morgan, a leading transporter of natural gas.

Notably, as a leading midstream service provider, KMI’s pipeline and storage assets are secured under long-term take-or-pay contracts. These contracts require shippers to pay for reserved capacity, whether used or not, ensuring a consistent revenue stream. This setup enables Kinder Morgan, currently a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold), to produce stable earnings largely protected from fluctuations in natural gas volumes, providing reliability to its business model.

You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Other midstream players in this space are The Williams Companies, Inc. WMB, Enterprise Products Partners L.P. EPD, and MPLX LP MPLX, each carrying a Zacks Rank #3 at present. All three energy infrastructure providers, MPLX, WMB and EPD, generate stable fee-based revenues and are less vulnerable to volatility in oil and gas prices.

Headquartered in Tulsa, OK WMB is preparing to meet rising energy needs and plans to invest $3.95 billion to $4.25 billion in capital expenditure by 2025 (for growth project) much higher than $1.5 billion spent in 2024.

Enterprise Products Partners has a strong focus on returning capital to its unitholders through both distribution and unit repurchases.

MPLX LP also has a strong focus on returning capital to its unitholders through both distribution and unit repurchases. In the third quarter of 2025 MPLX returned a total of $1.1 billion to its unit holders - $975 million was returned in distributions and $100 million through unit buybacks.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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