Covered, compounding. A 2.34% yield on a 45.23% trailing payout is covered: $0.44 a quarter, raised from $0.42 in May 2026, extending 5 years of increases since Otis became independent in 2020. The service and modernization backlog — maintaining elevators already installed — steadies the payout even when new-equipment orders slow.
Key risk: New-equipment slowdown — elevator installations follow construction, and weak building markets, especially in China, cut the higher-margin equipment side while service carries the load.
Changes if: Service growth stalls alongside equipment weakness, or the trailing payout pushes past 60%. Either would thin the cushion this card currently has.
- ✓Payout-coverage check: 45.23% trailing payout ratio — covered, with more than half of earnings retained.
- ✓Yield check: 2.34% indicated — $0.44/qtr × 4 at the $75.15 close on Oct. 23, 2026. Real, earned yield, not a special or a return of capital.
- ✓Dividend growth check: 5 years of increases; the latest raise lifted the quarterly dividend from $0.42 to $0.44 in May 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.