Earlier this year, Coca-Cola (KO) announced its 58th consecutive annual dividend increase. When the company reported earnings on April 21, management reaffirmed their commitment to the dividend: We will of course continue to focus on protecting the progress we made on working capital and free cash flow in 2019. And in this context, our capital allocation priorities [...]

AT&T (T) reported earnings on April 22 and reiterated confidence in its dividend despite the uncertainty caused by COVID-19:  No one knows the full duration and magnitude of the situation, but we have been running several different stress test scenarios with varying degrees of severity. Through it all, we expect to come through this healthy and expect [...]

Philip Morris (PM) reported earnings on April 21 and reiterated the firm's commitment to its dividend during these uncertain times: We also expect that strong cash flows will exceed cash requirements, including the funding of dividends to which we remain fully committed...Crucially, our organization, liquidity, and balance sheet are strong. We'll continue to protect and support our [...]

Earlier this month Raytheon completed its all-stock merger with United Technologies, forming Raytheon Technologies (RTX). Several weeks before the merger closed, United Technologies executed the spin-offs of its Otis (OTIS) elevators and Carrier (CARR) building systems businesses. United Technologies stock remained outstanding but the company changed its name to Raytheon Technologies and its ticker symbol to RTX. Since Raytheon [...]

The outlook for retail REITs continues to dim as the coronavirus pandemic drags on and fewer businesses are able to pay rent. Nareit, a producer of REIT research, recently conducted a survey of 54 publicly-listed REITs and found that shopping center REITs have only collected 46% of their rent this month as of mid-April. Rent collection rates [...]

Earlier today, Standard & Poor's lowered Walt Disney's (DIS) credit rating from A to A- and maintained a negative outlook on the firm's rating. Given the rising credit rating pressure facing Disney, management's desire to maintain a mid-single A leverage profile, and the increased likelihood of theme park profitability remaining weak for longer, we are [...]

On March 16, we discussed how the coronavirus pandemic could hurt the performance of Ventas' (VTR) senior housing business. Since then, the number of challenges facing Ventas across almost all parts of its portfolio has continued to rise. As a result, the firm's cash flow now seems likely to fall short of its dividend for the foreseeable [...]

Healthcare Trust of America (HTA) is the largest publicly-traded REIT focused on medical office buildings in the U.S. with more than 450 properties. Healthcare systems, academic medical centers, and physician groups rent HTA's properties to provide healthcare services. No tenant accounts for more than 5% of total rent, and no state contains more than 20% [...]

EPR Properties (EPR) provided a brief company update this evening. Management said that since EPR's last update on March 24, "the impact of the pandemic has increased significantly with the temporary closing of substantially all of its customers' operations." Tenants and borrowers have paid just 15% of April 2020 base rent and mortgage payments. EPR agreed to [...]

Halliburton (HAL) has paid uninterrupted dividends for decades, but the firm's streak looks increasingly likely to come to an end in the near future. The oilfield services provider this morning reported earnings. Unlike in the past, management emphasized that Halliburton would not lean on its balance sheet to protect the dividend during this down cycle: Finally, our [...]

International Business Machines (IBM) this afternoon reported first-quarter earnings results. So far, business is holding up reasonably well. Management said that about 60% of IBM's revenue is in recurring businesses such as long-term services contracts, software streams, and financing arrangements. In 2008, at the last recession, annuity-like businesses only accounted for around 45% of revenue, suggesting the [...]

Meredith (MDP) suspended its dividend today, citing "significant advertising campaign cancellations and delays." The media company's advertising revenue has taken a major hit since the coronavirus pandemic emerged as businesses across almost every industry have slashed non-core expenses. We downgraded Meredith's Dividend Safety Score to Unsafe on March 31. We had previously downgraded the firm's rating to Borderline Safe last September due to weak prospects [...]

Formed in 2003, Medical Properties Trust (MPW) is one of the world's largest owners of hospitals with around 400 facilities and more than 40,000 beds. The REIT's properties are leased or mortgaged by hospital operating companies. MPW's largest tenant, Steward Health Care, accounts for close to 25% of its portfolio (down from 38% at the [...]

In our last General Motors (GM) note on March 19, we wrote the following about the automaker's Borderline Safe Dividend Safety Score: If measures put in place by governments to slow the spread of the coronavirus become more drastic or prolonged, and if economic conditions materially worsen for consumers, then GM's dividend risk profile could need to be [...]

ONEOK (OKE) on Thursday declared its regular quarterly dividend payable in May, maintaining its existing payout despite the uncertainty facing the midstream services industry.  "ONEOK's dividend payout is supported by our strong balance sheet and healthy dividend coverage. Holding the dividend at its current level is the prudent financial decision for ONEOK during this time of market [...]