Covered, compounding — automation cash, modest yield. A 1.30% yield on $1.38 a quarter, raised from $1.31 in late 2025, is covered at about a 52% trailing payout, with a further $1 billion buyback authorization in June 2026. The income is thin for a single stock; the cover, the streak, and the capital return are the case.
Key risk: Industrial cyclicality — factory-automation orders fall first in a manufacturing downturn, and software and services growth has to offset hardware softness.
Changes if: The payout pushes well past about 52%, or the raise streak breaks.
- ✓Payout-coverage check: About 52% trailing — the $5.52 indicated dividend leaves about half of earnings retained.
- ✓Yield check: 1.30% indicated — $1.38/qtr × 4 at the $426.11 close on Oct. 23, 2026. Ordinary cash dividend, not a special.
- ✓Dividend growth check: 16 years of increases; the latest raise, in late 2025, lifted the quarterly dividend from $1.31 to $1.38.
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.