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Dividend Safety Score

The Dividend Safety Score is a coverage screen out of 100. It uses filed data and, where needed, exchange dividend records from our market data provider. It does not predict future dividends.

Read the Score

  1. Open Dividends on a company page.
  2. Select Dividend safety.
  3. Find Dividend Safety Score.
  4. Expand How the Score Works.
  5. Expand Inputs and Sources where available.

The card shows factors, bands, and source details.

The Dividend Safety Score gives up to 40 points for Dividend Record. Payout, Cash and Capital, and Balance Sheet each give up to 20 points. These three factors each use six point bands. The score is at most 39 when payout and cash cover are both in their two lowest bands.

With three usable factors, the score divides the earned points by the available maximum and multiplies by 100. With fewer than three usable factors, the score shows no result.

The Dividend Safety Score uses four labels: 80-100 Strong cover, 60-79 Adequate, 40-59 Thin, and 0-39 Weak.

The Dividend Safety Score shows the inputs, periods and filing links behind each factor. It marks each value that comes from exchange dividend records. It labels fallback measures and estimates.

Limits

For operating companies, payout divides dividends paid by net income, summed over three fiscal years. Cash cover divides operating cash flow minus capital spending by dividends paid, over the same three years. Balance Sheet uses debt relative to EBITDA, with interest coverage as a fallback. Banks, insurers, real estate investment trusts and master limited partnerships use different measures.

A cut is a fiscal year in which dividends per share fall more than 10% below the year before. If a company began paying dividends after the 3-year factor window, we score it on its other factors when at least 3 remain. Otherwise we show it as not scored, with the date its dividend began. We do not score a company when its latest annual report is more than 550 days old. Funds, shells, non-payers, delisted listings, and non-common listings can have no card.

10KGenie provides information, not investment advice.