Tower REIT with a covered, growing dividend — leverage in the caution band keeps the grade at warn. The $1.25 quarterly dividend ($5.00 annualized) is about 41% of the midpoint of full-year 2026 AFFO guidance, inside the §4 pass band, and the dividend has risen every year in the series shown, with no cut. Net debt to adjusted EBITDA of 6.4× sits in the §4 caution band of 6–7×, and that single caution is what holds the grade at warn.
Key risk: Leverage of 6.4× leaves little room if tower leasing or AFFO growth stalls.
Changes if: Leverage falls below 6×, or the dividend is cut, or the payout rises above 80% of AFFO.
- ✓AFFO payout (§4) Dividend ≈41% of 2026 AFFO guidance midpoint, under the 80% pass line; Q2 2026 AFFO $3.05/share covers the $1.25 quarterly dividend.
- !Leverage (§4) Net debt / adjusted EBITDA 6.4×, inside the 6–7× caution band; above the under-6× pass line.
- ✓Cut history (§4) No cut in the dividend series 2021–2026; raises in 2024, 2025 and 2026.
- ✓Yield / trap review (§8) 2.71% yield, no trigger: under 8%, no cut, regular dividend only.
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.