Covered, compounding — income-light. A 1.01% yield on a 39.2% payout is covered: $0.73 a quarter, raised in December 2025 from $0.65, extending a growth record of more than 30 consecutive years. Debt rose sharply in 2026 to fund the $4.75 billion CoolIT acquisition, which is the watch item, not the dividend.
Key risk: Acquisition debt — total debt rose to $13.18 billion at end-Q2 2026 from $8.49 billion a quarter earlier to fund CoolIT, so financing costs and integration, not the payout ratio, are the near-term risk.
Changes if: The payout pushes past about 60%, or acquisition debt forces the board to hold the dividend flat.
- ✓Payout-coverage check: 39.2% of earnings per StockAnalysis — comfortably covered, with Q2 2026 adjusted EPS of $2.09, up 11% year over year.
- ✓Yield check: 1.01% indicated — $0.73/qtr × 4 at the $288.53 close on Oct. 23, 2026. Low, but real and earned.
- ✓Dividend growth check: More than 30 consecutive years of increases (Tickeron records 33, StockAnalysis 40 — this card claims only more than 30); the latest raise lifted the quarterly rate 12.3%, from $0.65 to $0.73.
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.