Covered, but earnings cover is thin. A 4.6% yield on an 87.1% trailing payout is still covered, but the earnings cushion is thin: $1.28 a quarter, raised in January 2026 for a 54th consecutive year. The yield is the highest on this set of cards, and it is paid out of a business whose earnings have not grown as fast as its dividend.
Key risk: A high payout on slow growth — the trailing payout near 87% leaves little room if volumes, private-label competition or input costs trim earnings; cash-flow cover is stronger, at about 51% of cash flow, but earnings cover is what the ratio above measures.
Changes if: Earnings slip so the payout moves past 100% on a trailing basis for more than a short stretch, or the company pauses the annual increase it has kept up for 54 years.
- !Payout-coverage check: 87.1% on a trailing basis — $5.12 indicated against trailing earnings. Covered, but with only about an eighth of earnings retained; cash-flow cover is stronger, at about 51% of cash flow.
- ✓Yield check: 4.6% indicated — $1.28/qtr × 4 at the $110.15 close on Oct. 23, 2026. Real, earned yield for a single stock, not a special or a return of capital.
- ✓Dividend growth check: 54 consecutive years of increases; the latest raise, in Jan. 2026, lifted the quarterly dividend 1.6%, from $1.26 to $1.28. Slow growth, uninterrupted.
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.