Covered, high-yielding — with California risk. A 6.12% yield on a 36.23% trailing payout is covered with room to spare: $0.8775 a quarter, raised from $0.8275 at the start of 2026. The yield is high partly because the price has fallen from a $81.62 52-week high to the $57.35 close on Oct. 23, 2026 — but with a payout this low, the dividend is not funding itself from a shrinking base.
Key risk: California wildfire exposure — Southern California Edison serves 15 million people across fire-prone territory, and wildfire liabilities and cost-recovery decisions have driven the stock's fall from its 52-week high.
Changes if: The trailing payout pushes past roughly 60%, the dividend is frozen, or wildfire cost recovery is denied in a way that forces a cut. Coverage, not the yield alone, is the tripwire.
- ✓Payout-coverage check: 36.23% trailing payout — the $3.51 indicated dividend is well covered by trailing earnings, leaving most profit retained.
- ✓Yield check: 6.12% indicated — $0.8775/qtr × 4 at the $57.35 close on Oct. 23, 2026. Real, earned cash dividend, not a special or a return of capital.
- ✓Dividend growth check: Raised at the start of 2026, from $0.8275 to $0.8775 a quarter, about 6% growth year over year.
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.