Dividend King — covered and raising. 54 consecutive years of increases, the latest a 6.8% raise to $0.63 a quarter, at a 45.6% payout of adjusted earnings. A 2.4% yield is real income now, and the coverage leaves room for the next raise. Reported GAAP earnings in 2026 are depressed by specified items — third-quarter GAAP EPS was $0.53 against $1.42 adjusted — so the House grades coverage on the adjusted basis and says so.
Key risk: The Exact Sciences acquisition — a large deal closed in March 2026 and funded in part with debt — has lifted interest and amortization costs and depressed reported earnings; if the acquired diagnostics growth does not deliver, it pressures the earnings the dividend is covered by.
Changes if: Adjusted earnings fall enough that the $2.52 annual dividend pushes well past 50% of them, or the 54-year raise streak pauses. A single soft quarter at a 45.6% adjusted payout would not do it.
- ✓Payout-coverage check: 45.6% of adjusted earnings — $2.52 annualized ÷ $5.53 midpoint of the $5.50–$5.55 full-year 2026 adjusted EPS guide in the Oct. 21 8-K. First-half operating cash flow of $3.80B in the Q2 10-Q also covered $2.20B of dividends paid.
- ✓Yield check: 2.4% indicated ($0.63 × 4 ÷ $103.70 close on Oct. 23, 2026) passes the income test for a single stock — real yield with growth attached, and no special dividend inflating it.
- ✓Dividend growth check: 54 consecutive years of increases — a Dividend King. Latest raise 6.8%, from $0.59 to $0.63 a quarter; the Sep. 17, 2026 declaration was the 411th consecutive quarterly dividend since 1924.
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.