Covered, compounding — at a thin yield. A 0.63% yield on a roughly 24% payout is covered many times over: $0.29 a quarter, declared October 22, 2026 — a 3.6% raise on the $0.28 paid in December 2025 — continuing a run of annual increases stretching back years. The yield is among the thinnest on the site, but the payout leaves most earnings retained, so this is a compounding card, not an income card.
Key risk: Freight cyclicality — less-than-truckload volumes and pricing follow industrial production and consumer demand, so a freight recession cuts the earnings that fund the raises.
Changes if: The payout pushes past 40% of earnings, or the annual raise stops. Either would signal the freight cycle has caught up with the dividend.
- ✓Payout-coverage check: About 24% payout — $1.16 indicated against trailing EPS of $4.84 — covered many times over, with most earnings retained.
- ✓Yield check: 0.63% indicated — $0.29/qtr × 4 at the $182.70 close on Oct. 23, 2026. Real, earned yield, not a special or a return of capital.
- ✓Dividend growth check: Raised again in October 2026, from $0.28 to $0.29 a quarter — a 3.6% raise — extending a long run of annual increases.
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.