Apollo Raises Quarterly Dividend 10.4% to $0.563

Apollo Global Management raised its quarterly common-stock dividend 10.4% to $0.563 a share from $0.51. The shares traded ex-dividend on May 19, 2026. The annual dividend is $2.25 a share.

Why the dividend changed

The increase implements a higher annual distribution that Apollo outlined with its full-year 2025 results. That decision followed a year of record fee-related earnings, spread-related earnings, inflows and origination activity. Management presented the dividend alongside share repurchases and investments intended to support future growth, placing it within a broader capital-allocation program rather than treating it as a response to a single quarter. Apollo’s fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 results provide the clearest explanation of that framework.

The operating backdrop remained supportive in the first quarter of 2026. Fee-related earnings reached a record $728 million, up 30% from a year earlier, while spread-related earnings were $719 million. Assets under management surpassed $1 trillion after the company recorded $115 billion of quarterly inflows. Apollo attributed the fee result to higher revenue and margin expansion, while retirement-services earnings benefited from organic growth. Apollo’s first-quarter earnings presentation details those results.

Apollo also continued returning capital through repurchases. The company said it bought back approximately $1.5 billion of common stock over the preceding 12 months and had allocated approximately $480 million to strategic investments. The combination indicates that management funded the higher dividend while retaining capital for repurchases and business expansion. The dividend remains subject to board discretion, with Apollo identifying operating results, cash needs, investment opportunities and regulatory restrictions among the factors governing future payments. Apollo’s 2025 annual report describes those conditions.

Dividend track record

The latest increase extends Apollo’s dividend-growth streak to 3 consecutive years, but the longer record has not been uninterrupted. The annual total fell 9.1% to $2.10 in 2021 and then fell 23.8% to $1.60 in 2022, the most recent annual cut year.

Payments subsequently recovered. The annual total rose 5.6% to $1.69 in 2023, increased 7.6% to $1.82 in 2024 and advanced 9.6% to $1.99 in 2025. The five-year record still amounts to 0.4% annual growth because the recent increases followed the earlier reductions.

The payment sequence shows how the current run rate developed. Apollo paid $0.463 on the November 18, 2024, ex-dividend date and again on February 18, 2025. The rate then moved to $0.51 for the next four payments before increasing to $0.563 for the May 19, 2026, and August 19, 2026, ex-dividend dates. That pattern is a stepwise recovery rather than a long history of uninterrupted annual raises.

Is the dividend covered?

The dividend consumes 74% of earnings. That leaves an earnings cushion, but a smaller one than a low payout ratio would provide if profitability weakens or Apollo directs more capital toward expansion and repurchases.

SmarterDividends gives Apollo a dividend-safety score of 51 and rates the dividend C. The grade is borderline, within the 50-65 range. It reflects a payment that is currently supported by earnings but does not carry the wider coverage associated with a stronger safety grade. Apollo’s history of a cut in 2022 also matters when interpreting the current three-year growth streak.

Yield and valuation

At a share price of $118.87, Apollo’s forward dividend yield is 1.81%. That is well below the Financial Services sector median forward yield of 5.70%. The stock therefore offers less current dividend income than the sector benchmark, even after the 10.4% increase. An investor holding 100 shares receives $225.00 in annual dividend income at the stated annual rate.

SmarterDividends estimates fair value at $175.96 and classifies the shares as undervalued, representing 40% upside to that estimate. The fair-value conclusion is a valuation comparison rather than a forecast, and it does not change the stock’s below-sector yield or the dividend’s C safety grade.

What to watch

The next quarterly results will show whether record fee-related earnings and asset growth continue to support the new distribution. Important operating indicators include fee-generating assets, inflows, origination activity and spread-related earnings. Apollo’s first-quarter report also showed that alternative-investment performance can affect retirement-services earnings, making that result relevant to dividend coverage even when recurring fee income is growing. Apollo’s first-quarter results release outlines management’s operating priorities.

Capital allocation is the other checkpoint. Repurchases, strategic investments and the quarterly dividend compete for holding-company resources, while the board retains discretion over each declaration. Investors can compare the next declared rate with $0.563 and monitor the 74% earnings payout ratio for evidence of whether coverage is strengthening or narrowing.