A reinsurer paying a small slice of earnings, raised for five straight years. Everest Group pays $2.00 a quarter, $8.00 annualized, raised every year for five years and held through the reserve-charge years of 2022 and 2023. Dividends of $288 million are about 12% of 2025 net income of about $2,486 million, a pass on the earnings base used for insurers, and the reported debt-to-equity ratio of 0.23 is a pass on the sector basis stated. No caution applies on any check, so the card grades good; the risk is catastrophe and reserve volatility, not coverage.
Key risk: Reinsurance earnings are lumpy: catastrophe losses and reserve charges (2022-2023) can erase a year's profit, and the dividend has no protection beyond the balance sheet.
Changes if: The earnings payout crosses 60%, catastrophe losses repeat at 2022 scale, or the raise record breaks.
- ✓Earnings cover About 12% of FY2025 net income on the earnings base used for insurers, pass.
- ✓Leverage (sector basis) Debt-to-equity 0.23 as reported; insurer balance sheet, pass on the sector basis stated.
- ✓Dividend history Raised every year for 5 years; no cut in the record shown. Held through the 2022-2023 reserve years.
- ✓Trap screen Yield 2.07%, payout under 100%, no cut; not a trap pattern.
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.