Covered, compounding — rebuilt payer. A 2.46% yield on a 36.8% trailing payout is covered income with room to spare: $0.50 a quarter, raised in April 2026 from $0.45, the third straight year of increases. The post-crisis AIG pays a modest, well-covered dividend rather than stretching for yield.
Key risk: Catastrophe losses and reserve development — as a global property-casualty insurer, a heavy hurricane or casualty-reserve charge can cut earnings sharply in a single quarter, even though the dividend itself is small relative to earnings.
Changes if: The trailing payout pushes past 60%, or the quarterly rate is frozen for more than a year after three straight years of raises. Either would signal the rebuild phase is over.
- ✓Payout-coverage check: 36.8% of trailing earnings — $2.00 a year against earnings that cover it nearly three times over. Comfortably covered.
- ✓Yield check: 2.46% indicated — $0.50/qtr × 4 at the $81.26 close on Oct. 23, 2026. Real, earned yield, not a special or a return of capital.
- ✓Dividend growth check: Raised in April 2026 from $0.45 to $0.50, the third consecutive year of increases ($0.36 in 2023, $0.40 in 2024, $0.45 in 2025).
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.