Covered, fast-growing — but a low yield. A 0.66% yield on a 20.43% trailing payout is very comfortably covered: $0.47 a quarter, raised about 31% in early 2026 from $0.36, the second straight year of increases in the post-spin rebuild. This is a dividend-growth card, not an income card — the payout is small because the rebuild is young and the price has run, not because coverage is thin.
Key risk: A short, rebuilt history — GE slashed its dividend in 2017–2018, so today’s two-year growth streak carries none of the through-cycle proof of a Dividend King, and the agreed $11.75 billion CPP acquisition adds debt ahead of a late-2027 close.
Changes if: The payout pushes well past 20.43%, or the annual raise streak breaks after only two years. Either would end the rebuilt-growth case.
- ✓Payout-coverage check: 20.43% of trailing earnings — $1.88 indicated against a $285.64 close on Oct. 23, 2026. Nearly four-fifths of earnings retained.
- !Yield check: 0.66% indicated — $0.47/qtr × 4 at the $285.64 close on Oct. 23, 2026. Real and earned, but low: this card pays for growth, not current income.
- ✓Dividend growth check: 2 consecutive years of increases, with a roughly 31% raise in early 2026, from $0.36 to $0.47 a quarter, after the post-spin rebuild began.
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.