Covered, but flat. A 1.95% yield on a 28.48% payout is comfortably covered — and going nowhere lately. The $0.17 quarterly rate has not moved since December 2023, so this is a covered payer, not a compounding one, until a raise resumes.
Key risk: Oil and gas capex cycles — Halliburton lives on customers' drilling budgets, and North America activity has been the soft spot. A sustained spending downturn would test a dividend that has already stood still since December 2023.
Changes if: The $0.17 rate stands still for another year, or the payout pushes well past 28.48% on falling earnings. A flat payout that stays flat is the tripwire here.
- ✓Payout-coverage check: 28.48% trailing payout ratio — comfortably covered.
- ✓Yield check: 1.95% indicated — $0.17/qtr × 4 at the $34.92 close on Oct. 23, 2026. Real, earned yield.
- !Dividend growth check: Unchanged at $0.17 since December 2023 (raised from $0.16) — covered, but not currently compounding.
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.