Covered and compounding — but the yield is thin. A 0.73% yield on a 17.8% trailing payout is covered with room to spare: $0.60 a quarter, raised in November 2025 from $0.55 and paid August 31, 2026, extending 15 years of increases. The dividend is safe and still growing, but at 0.73% it pays thin current income for a single stock.
Key risk: Distribution margins are thin by design — a fee or volume squeeze would show up in earnings long before it touched the 17.8% payout.
Changes if: Trailing payout climbs well above 17.8%, or the 15-year raise streak breaks.
- ✓Payout-coverage check: 17.8% of trailing earnings — a wide cushion; most earnings stay retained.
- !Yield check: 0.73% indicated — $0.60/qtr × 4 at the $331.00 close on Oct. 23, 2026. Real, earned cash dividend, but thin income for a single stock.
- ✓Dividend growth check: 15 years of increases; the latest raise, to $0.60 from $0.55 in November 2025, was paid Aug. 31, 2026.
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.