The lessons
- 3.1
Can they actually keep paying it?
The two numbers that separate a comfortable dividend from a stretched one.
- 3.2
What dividend cover means
How many times over the earnings could pay the dividend, and why 2× is the shorthand.
- 3.3
Earnings-based vs cash-based payout ratios
Profit is an opinion, cash is a fact. Two payout ratios, two different answers.
- 3.4
Growth streaks and what they do to a board
A decade of raises takes a business that plans ahead — and can make a board defend the streak past the point of sense.
- 3.5
The yield trap
When a yield spikes because the price fell, the market is telling you something.
- 3.6
What has historically followed a dividend cut
What the record shows, with the source on screen.
- 3.7
How to read a dividend history chart
Years of payments on one chart, and the three shapes worth recognising.
- 3.8
Debt and the dividend
The dividend competes with the interest bill. Who wins is not a mystery.
- 3.9
How the dividend safety score is built
Exactly what goes into the number on your health score — and what it can't see.
Educational content only. It is not personal financial advice.