Chapter 4 of 6
Is the dividend safe?
A fat yield is worthless if the payout gets cut. A few signals hint at how durable it is.
The payout ratio — the share of earnings paid as dividends — is the first check: low leaves room to grow and to weather a bad year; very high can mean the payout is stretched. A long history of steady or rising dividends is reassuring; a recent cut is a red flag.
Quantic distills several of these signals into a single dividend score from 0 to 10 — a quick read on quality, not a recommendation to buy.
No single number is the whole story. Treat scores and ratios as a starting point for a closer look, never as advice.
Key terms
- Payout ratio
- The share of earnings paid out as dividends. Low leaves room to grow and absorb shocks; very high can signal a payout that's hard to sustain.
- Dividend score
- Quantic's 0–10 read on a dividend's quality, blending yield, payout stability and growth. Higher means sturdier — it's information, not a buy signal.
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