Covered on the company's own cash-flow definition, still a growth name. United Rentals paid $464 million of dividends against $2,181 million of company free cash flow in 2025, and net leverage is 1.8 times. The dividend was only initiated in 2023 and has risen every year since, so there is no five-year record yet. At 0.67% the yield is under the 1% line, so the card is graded warn.
Key risk: Rental demand follows construction: a building slowdown cuts fleet utilization and the free cash flow that funds both buybacks and the dividend.
Changes if: Company free cash flow payout rises above 60%, or net leverage crosses 3x.
- ✓Cash-flow cover 21.3% of FY2025 company free cash flow, pass (<60%).
- ✓Leverage Company-reported net leverage 1.8x at Sept 30, 2026, pass (<3x).
- !Dividend history Dividend initiated in 2023 at $1.48 a quarter and raised every year since, to $1.97 in 2026. No five-year record yet; no cut in the record that exists.
- !Yield Yield 0.67%, under the 1% line: a growth holding, not income.
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.