Covered, compounding — thin yield, strong coverage. A 1.61% yield on a 33.5% trailing payout is comfortably covered: $1.38 a quarter, raised from $1.20 in 2026 — a 15% step — with 14 years of increases behind it. The yield will not carry an income plan on its own, but the payout is real cash from a software business that covers it three times over.
Key risk: Tax-season and small-business concentration — TurboTax and QuickBooks revenue clusters around filing season and small-business spending, and AI-assisted filing is a live competitive threat to the tax franchise.
Changes if: The trailing payout pushes past about 60%, or dividend growth stalls for a full year. Either would break the compounding case this card rests on.
- ✓Payout-coverage check: 33.5% of trailing earnings — the $5.52 indicated dividend is covered about three times over.
- ✓Yield check: 1.61% indicated — $1.38/qtr × 4 at the $343.39 close on Oct. 23, 2026. Real, earned yield, though thin for an income-first card.
- ✓Dividend growth check: 14 years of increases; the latest raise, from $1.20 to $1.38, was paid Oct. 16, 2026.
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.