Covered in cash, cloudy on reported earnings. A 2.36% yield — $1.81 a quarter — is backed by a cash-flow payout of about 37.9%, but reported-earnings payout figures conflict across data providers because the recent earnings base includes one-off items, so the earnings-coverage picture cannot be stated cleanly. The dividend itself was raised in January 2026, from $1.79 to $1.81.
Key risk: Capital intensity — industrial-gas projects are large, long-dated and debt-funded, so project delays or cost overruns can squeeze the cash flow that covers the dividend.
Changes if: Cash-flow payout rises toward 60%, or a future raise fails to arrive — either would break the cash-coverage case this warn verdict rests on.
- !Payout-coverage check: Cash-flow payout of about 37.9% (MarketBeat) covers the dividend comfortably, but reported-earnings payout ratios published for APD conflict sharply (one provider shows a negative ratio on a loss-affected earnings base), so no single earnings payout is quoted on this card.
- ✓Yield check: 2.36% indicated — $1.81/qtr × 4 at the $307.15 close on Oct. 23, 2026. Real, earned yield for a single stock.
- ✓Dividend growth check: Dividend raised in January 2026 from $1.79 to $1.81 a quarter; StockAnalysis records 51 years of dividend growth, and MarketBeat records a 43-year increase track record — the exact streak length differs by provider, so this card claims only the verified recent raise.
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.