Ep. 98: Is the Payout Covered? 3M's Rising Ratio, JPMorgan's Buyback Tilt, SCHD vs Rates, and Where the Yield Risk Hides
6 dividend/income sources on one throughline (is the payout covered / is the yield real / where does the risk hide). (1) Our SCHD-vs-rate-scare piece — 2022 receipt shows SCHD did NOT trade like a bond proxy (SPY ~-18% at 2022 lows, SCHD a fraction, finished 2022 far ahead), 0% utilities vs XLU 100%, 3.25% yield, 0.06% ER, $95.2B AUM; two-sided (SCHD rerated +19% YTD, premium compresses if 10yr sustains >4.75%). (2) 3M (MMM) raised div 7% to $0.78 but payout ratio JUMPED to 63.09% from 35.48%; EPS $2.14 +14%, FCF $540M, yield only 1.9%; TIKR $198 by 2030. (3) JPMorgan (JPM) $50.5B rev, div $1.50 flat 3 quarters, payout just 26.5% (massive coverage), Dimon prefers buybacks, yield 1.8%; TIKR $407 by 2030. (4) Campbell's (CPB, 7% yield, 51yr streak, ~76% payout, only 1.26% 5yr growth) + Pool Corp (POOL, 2.4% yield, 22yr streak ~17%/yr growth) kicked out of S&P 500 June 22 → mechanical selling = possible entry. (5) Private credit $1.8T first stress test — Apollo/Blackstone/etc restricting withdrawals, BDCs at 82% NAV (worst since 2022), Fitch true defaults ~6%; yield-vs-risk lesson (MAIN/ARCC/ARES). (6) Cintas (CTAS) aristocrat, 43yr streak, 20.4% 10yr div growth, 38% payout, 1.1% yield, P/E 36.7 in a rare 20% drawdown, DDM/analyst blend ~$185 (~6% undervalued), $5.5B UniFirst bid.