Quick Read
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Upbound Group yields nearly 10% and Comcast yields 6%, but both ex-dividend by October 7, leaving days to qualify.
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Manhattan Bridge Capital's 12% yield is flashing red: earnings cover only 102% of dividends and the payout was already trimmed.
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Share prices drop roughly by the dividend amount on the ex-date, so sustainable coverage matters far more than yield alone.
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Five dividend payers go ex-dividend between October 6 and October 8. That leaves only a few trading sessions to get on the books for October payments. Yields range from 3.44% to 12.2%, and the coverage behind those yields changes even more.
How the dates work:you must own the shares before the ex-dividend date to qualify for the payout. With one-day settlement, that means buying by the close of the prior trading day. After the ex-date passes, it is too late for that payment. The cash simply reaches your account on the pay date.
Upbound Group (UPBD): Nearly 10% Yield, Buy-By Monday
Upbound Group( NASDAQ:UPBD ) yields 9.94% on a $1.56 annualized dividend. Directors declared a $0.39 dividend September 23. It goes ex-dividend October 6 and is scheduled to pay October 27, so Monday, October 5 is the last day to buy. Part of the yield comes from a falling stock price: shares fell 26.73% over the past year and 14.88% in the past month.
On GAAP numbers, coverage is thin. Trailing EPS of $1.54 puts the payout at about 101%. On the reaffirmed non-GAAP guidance of $4.00 to $4.35, the payout falls to roughly 36% to 39%. Cash flow looks better. Second-quarter free cash flow of $84 million compares with a quarterly dividend cost of roughly $22.7 million. Net leverage is at 2.6x.
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First Bancorp (FNLC): Rising Payout, Same Monday Deadline
First Bancorp( NASDAQ:FNLC ) declared a $0.38 dividend on September 24. It goes ex-dividend October 6 and is scheduled to pay October 16, so the buy-by date is Monday, October 5. The yield is 4.47%, held down by a stock that has gained 32.32% this year. The quarterly dividend has climbed from $0.36 in early 2025 to $0.38.
First Bancorp has the cleanest coverage on this list. The $1.52 forward dividend is about 45% of trailing EPS of $3.41. Second-quarter net income rose 18.6%, and net interest margin expanded for the 8th straight quarter to 2.88%. Operating cash flow was negative $12.79 million in the second quarter, a swing that is common at banks. Non-performing assets rose to 0.54% of total assets from 0.19%, so credit quality is worth keeping an eye on.
Comcast (CMCSA): 6% Yield After a Steep Slide
Comcast( NASDAQ:CMCSA ) goes ex-dividend October 7. The $0.33 payment is scheduled for October 28, so Tuesday, October 6 is the last day to buy. The 6.07% yield is high mostly because the price has dropped: shares are down 19.98% this year, including 17.15% in the past month.
Coverage is strong. The payout is about 42% of trailing EPS of $3.11. In 2025, operating cash flow minus capital spending left about $21.89 billion, compared with $4.89 billion in dividends. The bigger question is what happens after the separation. Comcast paused buybacks on June 29 ahead of the NBCUniversal/Sky spin-off, and the dividend policy after the split remains open.
Manhattan Bridge Capital (LOAN): 12% Yield on Thin Ice
Manhattan Bridge Capital( NASDAQ:LOAN ) yields 12.2%. Its $0.11 dividend goes ex October 8 and is scheduled to pay October 15, so Wednesday, October 7 is the buy-by date. Shares are down 25.8% over the past year, and that drop drives much of the yield.
For a lending REIT, net earnings serve as the distributable base, and they fall short. Trailing EPS of $0.43 covers only part of the $0.44 forward dividend, a payout of about 102%. Operating cash flow in 2025 was $4,929,066, below dividends of $5,261,780. The quarterly dividend has already been trimmed from $0.115 to $0.11. Coverage is shaky. A trim like that is one of the warning signs we flagged in a free guide to spotting dividend traps before the cut.
Millicom (TIGO): Big Installment, Lower Yield
Millicom( NASDAQ:TIGO ) goes ex-dividend October 8. The $0.75 payment is scheduled to pay October 15, so Wednesday, October 7 is the last day to buy. The yield is 3.44% on the $3.00 regular annual dividend. Millicom also declared a separate $1.50 interim dividend, which is payable in early 2027. Payments are subject to 15% Luxembourg withholding tax. The stock has gained 96.19% over the past year, which keeps the yield low.
The regular dividend is about 75% of trailing EPS of $4.01. Including the interim dividend, the full schedule costs roughly $754.7 million. Millicom's 2026 equity free cash flow guidance of about $1.1 billion covers that, and management is aiming leverage below 2.5x by year-end.
Coverage Outlasts Any Single Payment
Buying a stock just to collect one payment rarely pays off on its own, since on the ex-date the share price usually drops by about the amount of the dividend. What holds up is coverage. These five range from comfortable at First Bancorp and Comcast to stressed at Manhattan Bridge Capital. If you are considering any of them, check the deadlines: miss the ex-date and you miss the payment.
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