Covered, diversified, compounding. A 3.15% trailing yield, paid monthly, from 318 dividend-weighted U.S. stocks at a 0.38% expense ratio, with trailing total return of about 21% over the past year. Distributions are ordinary dividends from the holdings — no return-of-capital trap structure — and trailing distributions grew about 10% year over year.
Key risk: Uneven months: monthly amounts ranged from $0.155 to $0.585 over the trailing twelve months (December’s $0.5848 alone was nearly a fifth of the year), so the monthly cheque is not a steady wage — the trailing total is the income figure.
Changes if: Trailing-12-month distributions fall for two consecutive quarters, or the expense ratio rises materially. Monthly wobble alone is not a tripwire.
- ✓Yield check: 3.15% trailing — $3.70 of distributions over the trailing 12 months at the $117.57 close on Oct. 23, 2026, paid monthly in the moderate band, not distress.
- !Expense check: 0.38% a year is more than six times SCHD’s 0.06%. Dividend weighting across 318 names is what the extra fee buys.
- ✓Trap check — distribution vs. total return: Distributions are ordinary dividends from 318 holdings, and trailing total return is about 21% over the past year with distributions counted. The payout is on top of the return, not carved out of it.
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.