Covered, and still passing after the Chart acquisition. Baker Hughes paid $910 million against $2,537 million of free cash flow in 2025, and net debt is about 2.5 times annualized third-quarter adjusted EBITDA after the Chart acquisition closed in July 2026. Dividends paid have risen every year since 2020. The yield clears the 1% line and every check passes, so the card is graded good.
Key risk: Chart integration and energy cycles: $14.2 billion of net debt after the acquisition leaves deleveraging, not the dividend, as the test for the next two years.
Changes if: Net debt/EBITDA stays above 3x into 2027, or free cash flow payout rises above 60%.
- ✓Cash-flow cover 35.9% of FY2025 free cash flow, pass (<60%).
- ✓Leverage About 2.5x after the Chart acquisition on annualized Q3 adjusted EBITDA; approximate, pass (<3x).
- ✓Dividend history Dividends paid rose every year, $488m to $910m, 2020 to 2025; $0.23 quarterly since the January 2025 raise. No cut in the record shown.
- ✓Trap screen Yield 1.68%, no cut, payout under 60%; not a trap pattern.
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.