Covered, compounding — the index toll road. A 1.33% yield on a 44.9% payout is covered income with room to raise: $2.05 a quarter, declared October 19, 2026, for an 11th consecutive year of increases. Q3 2026 revenue grew 12.4% to $892.0 million, with Index revenue up 18.1% and a 95.0% retention rate — the dividend grows from recurring index and analytics subscriptions, while buybacks ($552.3 million in Q3 alone) do most of the returning.
Key risk: Market-linked fees — asset-based index fees rise and fall with markets, and Analytics and Sustainability growth (4.8% and 4.0% in Q3) already trails Index growth, so a market drawdown plus slowing subscriptions would squeeze the growth story at once.
Changes if: the payout pushes toward 65% of earnings, or retention slips below 95% while asset-based fees fall. Retention plus payout, not the yield, is the tripwire here.
- ✓Payout-coverage check: 44.9% of earnings — $8.20 indicated, against full-year 2026 free-cash-flow guidance of $1.49–$1.55 billion. Covered, with buybacks taking the larger share of returns.
- ✓Yield check: 1.33% indicated — $2.05/qtr × 4 at the $615.62 close on Oct. 23, 2026. Real, earned yield for a single stock, not a special or a return of capital.
- ✓Dividend growth check: 11 consecutive years of increases; the $2.05 quarterly rate was declared Oct. 19, 2026, for the fourth quarter of 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.