The State of Dividends, Q4 2026

The State of Dividends, Q4 2026. SmarterDividends tracked 2,953 listed dividend payers during the quarter.

9 raised a regular dividend and 1 cut one, 9.0 increases per cut; 1 companies initiated a dividend and 0 paid a special.

The median increase was 7.2% and the median cut 35.9%.

As of 2026-10-08, 48% of payers with a fair-value estimate trade below it, and 471 are both undervalued and graded 75 or higher for dividend safety.

0% of the period's cuts came from companies graded C or lower beforehand.

Dividend increases outnumbered cuts four to one, while CPB’s reduction exceeded every raise in percentage terms. The Consumer Defensive company lowered its dividend from $0.3900 to $0.2500, a 35.9% cut, despite carrying a B safety grade beforehand. Consumer Defensive appeared on both sides of the quarter’s dividend activity because INGR raised its payout.

EHC led the increases with a 10.5% raise, followed by STT at 9.5%. FRT increased its dividend by 2.6%, while INGR delivered the smallest raise at 1.2%. The increases were distributed across Healthcare, Financial Services, Real Estate and Consumer Defensive rather than concentrated in one sector.

STT and INGR each extended a 15-year dividend growth streak, while FRT reached 18 years and EHC reached two years. The quarter produced no dividend initiations, alongside the absence of special dividends. Safety grades were concentrated toward the upper end, with 60% of payers graded A or B, and the sole cut came from that group.