Covered, compounding — income-light. A 0.93% yield on a 36.9% payout is covered and growing at a double-digit pace: $0.52 a quarter, raised 15.6% in July 2026 from $0.45, extending a growth record of more than 40 consecutive years. The lowest current yield in this batch, bought for growth, not income today.
Key risk: Valuation and cyclicality — at a price near its 52-week high and a P/E above 40, the share price carries high expectations, and uniform-rental demand tracks employment and business formation.
Changes if: The payout pushes past about 60%, or dividend growth slows to low single digits for more than a year — either would weaken the growth-compounder case.
- ✓Payout-coverage check: 36.9% of earnings per StockAnalysis (about 41.0% trailing per MarketBeat, about 32.9% of cash flow) — covered on every basis quoted.
- ✓Yield check: 0.93% indicated — $0.52/qtr × 4 at the $224.10 close on Oct. 23, 2026. Low, but real and earned; price appreciation, not yield, has driven most of the return.
- ✓Dividend growth check: More than 40 consecutive years of increases (MarketBeat records 42, StockAnalysis 45 — this card claims only more than 40); the latest raise lifted the quarterly rate 15.6%, from $0.45 to $0.52.
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.