COST dividend analysis

COST dividend deep dive

COST returns 7.60% per year through the dividend at the current $146.00 share price. The payout sits at 66% of trailing earnings, leaving 34% as retained capital — the standard line for evaluating dividend safety alongside the company's free-cash-flow trajectory.

Pillar mix backing the COST dividend: Quality 71/100, Risk 68/100, and a payout-strain adjustment that lands the dividend safety at 65/100. The Risk pillar is the place to look first if leverage or earnings cyclicality is a concern.

Reinvested-distribution math on COST at $146.00: holding yield (7.60%) and growth (8.6%) constant, the cumulative income compounds to roughly 48.7% over 5 years, 121.0% over 10, 388.5% over 20.

On the peer line for COST: KO (5.00%), PG (1.50%), PEP (2.90%). The cohort-mean yield (3.13%) sets the baseline; the 7.60% read on COST is 4.47 pp above that anchor.

For COST cash-flow planning: ex-date 2026-03-01, settlement 2026-03-15, quarterly run-rate $2.775/share. Annualized: $11.10.

COST synthesis: yield 7.60%, growth 8.6%, safety 65/100, payout 66%. The next earnings line will tell whether free-cash-flow conversion supports the current trajectory.