Tuesday Edition: Mastercard goes ex-dividend this Thursday — Wednesday is the last day to qualify for the $0.87 payment

I flagged this ex-date in my notes last week and did not want you to miss it — MA has grown its payout 14% a year for five years, and owning by close tomorrow locks it in.  ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌ ‌

Read online 💰 Dividend Dispatch Income is everywhere. I find it. Tuesday, July 07, 2026·6 min read     Explore Now: Exxon and Chevron Have an Unlikely New Competitor     Today's Theme 56 years of raises. 15% annual growth. Both in one issue. I was going through the Aristocrats list this morning — all 69 of them, each with at least 25 consecutive years of dividend increases — and two names jumped out. Aflac (AFL) has raised for 43 straight years and is only paying out a third of what it earns. Sysco (SYY) has been at it for 56 straight years. On the growth side, I've got Visa (V) compounding its dividend at 15.4% per year and Waste Management (WM) with a fresh 14.5% raise. Today's yields range from 0.75% to 2.6%, but every one of these names raised in 2026. Let me show you why each one matters.     Grand Canyon Discovery: 140x Earth's Power For a century, America fought wars over energy buried six thousand miles away. The largest energy source on Earth was under our own feet the whole time - much of it beneath the desert near the Grand Canyon. How big? 50,000 times every oil and gas reserve on the planet. Combined. The center of the Earth runs as hot as the sun's surface. Tapping a sliver of it could power civilization for two million years. The size was never the problem. The reach was - until a drilling crew hit the DOE's 2035 targets twelve years early, and costs fell 50% in 18 months. Google signed. Gates invested. The Pentagon made it a priority. One company has quietly built this for sixty years. See the company sitting on the biggest energy source on Earth     👑 Dividend Aristocrats The blue-chip legacy payers AFLAflac Just Hit 43 Straight Years of Raises — and It's Only Paying Out a Third of What It Earns Aflac sells supplemental insurance — the kind that pays you cash directly if you get sick, hurt, or hospitalized, on top of whatever your regular health coverage provides. You know the duck. But the real business is in Japan, where Aflac is the largest supplemental insurer in the country. The 5.2% raise they announced in November 2025 brought the quarterly payment to $0.61 — that's $2.44 a year. Forty-three consecutive annual increases. But here's the number that gets me excited: the payout ratio is just 33%. I want to explain why that matters. The payout ratio tells you what percentage of a company's earnings goes out the door as dividends. At 33%, Aflac earns roughly $3 for every $1 it pays you. Think of it like your paycheck — if you're only spending a third of your income, you've got a massive cushion. Even if earnings dip, there's plenty of room to keep raising. A payout ratio above 80% makes me nervous. At 33%, this dividend has years of runway ahead of it. Now the risk: about 51% of Aflac's revenue comes from Japan. When the yen weakens against the dollar, those Japanese earnings translate into fewer American dollars. If you own AFL, you're making a bet on Japan's insurance market staying strong. Yield: 2.1% $10K invested = $210/yr Paid: Quarterly     This Goes Back To $29.97     SYYSysco Has Raised Its Dividend 56 Straight Years — and It Just Bumped Again Sysco is the largest foodservice distributor in America. They deliver food, kitchen supplies, and equipment to restaurants, hospitals, schools, and hotels — basically anywhere people eat outside their homes. Not the tech company Cisco. This is the food truck. Fifty-six consecutive annual dividend increases. Let that sink in. That makes Sysco a Dividend King — and I want to explain that term because I get asked about it a lot. You've heard of Dividend Aristocrats — those are S&P 500 companies with at least 25 straight years of increases. There are 69 of them right now. A Dividend King goes further: 50 or more consecutive years. Only about 57 companies in the entire market qualify. To keep that streak alive through recessions, financial crises, a pandemic, and inflation spikes — that's a different level of commitment. Sysco just raised from $0.54 to $0.55 per quarter, and the next payment lands July 24. That's $2.20 a year. The payout ratio sits around 47% — comfortable. Here's the risk: restaurants are Sysco's biggest customer group. When people eat out less during a downturn, Sysco sells less food. Margins in food distribution run thin — around 2% net profit. This is a steady name, not a growth rocket. You own SYY for the reliability. Yield: 2.6% $10K invested = $260/yr Paid: Quarterly 🚀 Dividend Growth Stars Fast-rising income builders VVisa Yields 0.75% — and I Think It's One of the Best Dividend Growth Stocks You Can Own Visa runs the largest electronic payment network on the planet. They don't lend money — that's the banks. Visa processes the transactions. Every time you tap or swipe a card, they take a tiny fee. In over 200 countries. OK so the yield is 0.75%. I know. But stay with me. Since Visa went public in 2008, they've raised their dividend every single year — 17 consecutive years. The five-year dividend growth rate is 15.4% per year. They bumped it 14% last October to $0.67 per quarter — $2.68 a year. Here's the thing, and I love explaining this because it changes how people think about dividends. There's a concept called yield on cost — it's the dividend you're collecting today divided by the price you originally paid. If you buy Visa at $360 and collect $2.68 a year, that's 0.75%. But if that dividend keeps growing at 15% a year — and with a payout ratio around 21%, there's enormous room for it — your yield on your original $360 hits roughly 1.5% in five years. Over 3% in ten years. Over 6% in fifteen. Your $75 a year on a $10K position could grow past $300 in a decade without you adding a single dollar. The risk: this is not an income stock for right now. If you need cash today, Visa won't help. And there's regulatory risk — lawmakers regularly discuss capping the interchange fees that are Visa's primary revenue source. Any legislation there would hit the growth story. Yield: 0.75% $10K invested = $75/yr Paid: Quarterly WMWaste Management Just Raised 14.5% — Because Everyone Needs Their Garbage Picked Up WM is the largest trash and recycling company in America. They pick up garbage, operate landfills, and increasingly convert waste to energy. If it goes in a bin or a dumpster, WM probably handles it. The board approved a 14.5% dividend increase for 2026, bringing the quarterly payout to $0.945 — that's $3.78 a year. This is their 23rd consecutive annual raise. At around $228 per share, the yield comes in at about 1.7%. Here's why I love WM for a dividend growth position: garbage collection is about as recession-proof as a business gets. You can cancel your gym membership and skip your vacation, but you're not going to stop putting your bins out on Tuesday morning. That gives WM pricing power. When inflation runs hot, they raise prices. When the economy slows, people still produce trash. Twenty-three years of consecutive raises through every kind of market tells that story. The risk: WM reports Q2 earnings on July 28 — three weeks from today — which could bring short-term volatility. The stock is also trading at a price-to-earnings ratio of about 33, which means you're paying a premium for the quality. And the waste-to-energy business requires heavy capital investment. This is a long-term compounder, not a bargain right now. Yield: 1.7% $10K invested = $170/yr Paid: Quarterly 📋 The Extra Yield This week's calendars, screens & answers Don't miss this ex-date: Mastercard (MA) goes ex-dividend this Thursday, July 9. If you want the $0.87 quarterly payment, you need to own shares by end of day tomorrow — Wednesday, July 8. The yield is only 0.65%, but MA has grown its dividend at 14% per year for the past five years. I ran a screen this morning: Filtered for stocks with at least 10% annual dividend growth over the past five years. Visa (V) at 15.4% passed, and so did Mastercard (MA) at 14%. Waste Management (WM) came in around 9% on a five-year basis — just shy of the cutoff — but that fresh 14.5% raise this year caught my eye. Two payment companies and a trash company on the same list. I love it. Someone asked me: "What's the difference between a Dividend Aristocrat and a Dividend King?" An Aristocrat must be in the S&P 500 with 25+ consecutive years of increases — 69 companies qualify right now. A King needs 50+ years — only about 57 companies in the entire market. Sysco (SYY) is both. The Dispatch Today was about two ways to build income. Aflac (AFL) and Sysco (SYY) represent decades of reliability — 43 and 56 straight years of raises, respectively. Visa (V) and Waste Management (WM) show you where the growth is — 14% to 15% annual raises that compound into serious money over time. And don't forget: Mastercard (MA) goes ex-dividend Thursday, so act by tomorrow if you want that $0.87. Wednesday I'm switching gears to The Weird Yield and The High Yield — I've already got one strange pick that's going to make you do a double take. — Charlie 💰 Dividend Dispatch The High Yield · Aristocrats · Growth Stars · The Weird Yield · Safety   Update your email preferences or unsubscribe here © 2026 Dividend Dispatch by Media Miami LLC 1712 Pioneer Avenue Suite 500 Cheyenne, WY 82001, United States Terms of Service