Covered, but price-driven — broadband pressure ahead of a breakup. A 5.82% yield on a $0.33 quarterly dividend is covered — about 42% of earnings and roughly a quarter of 2025 free cash flow of $21.9 billion against $4.89 billion of dividends paid — but the yield is high mainly because the price has fallen about 17% over the past year. The dividend was flat at $0.33 through 2026 after the January 2025 raise from $0.31, broadband revenue is under pressure, and a separation of the media businesses is planned by June 2027.
Key risk: Broadband losses and the breakup — domestic broadband revenue fell as Comcast reworked pricing, and the planned separation of NBCUniversal and Sky leaves the dividend policy of each new company to be set after the split.
Changes if: Free cash flow falls toward the dividend total, or the post-separation companies reset the payout. Cash coverage through the split, not the headline yield, is the tripwire here.
- ✓Payout-coverage check: About 42% of earnings, and about 22% of 2025 free cash flow ($4.89 billion of dividends against $21.9 billion of free cash flow). Covered, with room.
- !Yield check: 5.82% indicated — $0.33/qtr × 4 at the $22.69 close on Oct. 23, 2026. Earned, but price-driven: the shares are down about 17% over the past year, so the yield flatters a falling price.
- !Dividend growth check: Flat at $0.33 a quarter through 2026; the last raise was in January 2025, from $0.31. No growth in the current year.
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.