Dividend Dispatch — Header
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| Dividend Dispatch |
| Income is everywhere. I find it. |
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| Monday, July 13, 2026·6 min read |
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Dividend Dispatch — Today's Theme
| Today's Theme |
| The Weekend BDC Screen: When 15.6% Isn't Better Than 11.3% |
| I spent most of Saturday morning doing what I always do — going through BDC filings with coffee and a spreadsheet. The VIX settled at 15.03 on Friday, the S&P touched 7,575, and despite Strait of Hormuz tensions keeping energy names on edge, markets finished green. But I wasn't watching oil. I was screening business development companies — companies that lend to private businesses and must distribute 90%+ of their income to shareholders. I went through more than 30 of them. Two survived. One yields 11.3% with clean coverage. The other yields 15.6% — but the cracks are showing. Plus Southern Company as this week's safe anchor and AT&T on my watchlist. |
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Exxon and Chevron Have an Unlikely New Competitor |
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Energy giants like Exxon and Chevron have been buying up land in America’s lithium hotspot. Now they’ve got a new neighbor. EnergyX just acquired 35,000 gross acres of high-grade lithium resources in the Smackover Formation, right next to Exxon and Chevron’s projects. |
What’s really turning heads about this move is that EnergyX isn’t just competing for lithium-rich land. Their patented technology can extract up to 3X more lithium than traditional methods. That combination positions EnergyX to be one of the biggest lithium producers in America. Plus, General Motors has already invested along with other global leaders like Eni and POSCO. |
Great timing too, because the demand for lithium is projected to grow 5X by 2040. You can claim a stake in the lithium boom too. Invest in EnergyX. |
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Dividend Dispatch — Section 1a
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The High Yield
Today's best dividend income ideas — 8%+ yields only
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| OBDCBlue Owl Capital Is My Cleanest BDC Find of the Weekend |
Blue Owl Capital Corporation is a BDC — that stands for business development company. Here's how they work: BDCs lend money to private, mid-sized businesses and are required by law to distribute at least 90% of their taxable income to shareholders. Think of it like a bank that sends almost all its profits to you instead of keeping them.
I found myself going through OBDC's latest quarterly filing on Saturday morning, and the numbers are clean. Net investment income last quarter: $0.32 per share. The dividend: $0.31. That's 103% coverage — the income more than pays for the distribution.
At Friday's close near $10.96, the yield is 11.3%. Your $10,000 turns into about $1,130 a year — about $280 every quarter landing in your account.
What else jumped out: non-performing loans dropped to 2.0% of the portfolio from 2.7%. And management has been buying back shares at 86 cents on the dollar — $148 million worth. When the people running the company are buying at a discount, I pay attention.
Here's why that matters: because BDCs must distribute 90% of income, they can't stockpile cash like a regular company. The protection comes from loan quality. When non-accruals are trending down and NII covers the dividend, you have a BDC doing exactly what it should.
The risk is straightforward. BDCs lend to companies that often can't get traditional bank loans. If the economy slows and borrowers stumble, those loans go bad. I size this one carefully — but the coverage numbers today are solid. |
| Yield: 11.3% |
$10K invested = $1,130/yr |
Paid: Quarterly |
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Dividend Dispatch — Section 1b
| FSKFS KKR Yields 15.6% — But Read This Before You Buy |
FS KKR Capital is another BDC — same structure as OBDC above, same 90% distribution requirement. But this is where the similarities stop.
FSK pays $0.42 per share each quarter — $1.68 a year. At around $10.80, the yield works out to roughly 15.6%. Your $10,000 generates about $1,560 a year — about $390 every quarter. That number should catch your eye. It caught mine. But for more than one reason.
The bull case: Q1 2026 net investment income was $0.42 per share, exactly covering the distribution. KKR — one of the biggest names in private credit — manages this fund. And in June, KKR invested $150 million of their own capital through a new preferred stock offering. When the manager puts nine figures on the line, it says something about their conviction.
Now I have to be straight with you. FSK's net asset value dropped 9.9% in Q1 alone — from $20.89 to $18.83. The stock has fallen over 52% from its 52-week high of $22.68. Net debt to equity sits at 131%. And Q1 earnings were negative $1.57 per share after $2.00 in net realized and unrealized investment losses.
The dividend is covered by current income today. But if those paper losses become real, the income pool shrinks. I hold a very small position — no more than 2% of my portfolio. If you take this one, size it small and watch the next earnings report like a hawk. |
| Yield: 15.6% |
$10K invested = $1,560/yr |
Paid: Quarterly |
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Dividend Dispatch — Main Rest
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Safety & Watchlist
Reliable picks + red flags
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| Safe Pick |
| SO79 Years Without a Dividend Cut — Southern Company Keeps Raising |
Southern Company is one of America's largest regulated electric utilities, serving about 9 million customers across Georgia, Alabama, Mississippi, and Illinois. Regulated utilities work on a simple model — they invest in infrastructure, regulators set the rates, and the company earns a predictable return. Not exciting. But that predictability is what makes a 79-year streak possible.
SO just raised its annual dividend to $3.04 per share — $0.76 per quarter — marking the 25th consecutive year of increases. And here's the number that stopped me on Sunday morning: Southern Company hasn't reduced its quarterly dividend since 1948. Harry Truman was in his first term.
At around $97, the yield is 3.1%. Your $10,000 generates about $310 a year — roughly $78 every quarter. Not flashy next to those BDC yields above. But the payout ratio sits around 75% today, with management targeting the low-to-mid 60% range going forward — meaning about a quarter of every dollar earned goes back into modernizing the grid.
The capital spending is significant — $81 billion over five years — and Plant Vogtle's nuclear units came in billions over budget. But Vogtle is online now, regulators approved cost recovery, and 79 years of unbroken dividends speaks louder than any single project overrun. |
| Yield: 3.1% |
$10K invested = $310/yr |
Paid: Quarterly |
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| Watchlist |
| TAT&T Yields 5.3% — But I Need to See a Raise First |
AT&T runs one of America's two major wireless networks, plus a growing fiber broadband operation. After years of chasing content deals — the WarnerMedia saga — they're back to being a plain telecom company. Simpler. More focused.
T pays $0.2775 per quarter — $1.11 a year. At around $21, that's a 5.3% yield. Your $10,000 produces about $530 a year — $133 every quarter.
So why watchlist instead of safe pick? Because AT&T cut its dividend nearly in half in 2022 when it spun off WarnerMedia. And since then — over four years — they haven't raised a single penny.
Free cash flow has improved. Debt is coming down. The 5G and fiber buildout is driving subscriber growth. All good signs. But until management actually raises the dividend, this stays on my watchlist.
What would change my mind? A raise of at least 5%, followed by another the next year. That would tell me the cash flow improvement is durable, not temporary. Until then — I watch, I don't own. |
| Yield: 5.3% |
$10K invested = $530/yr |
Paid: Quarterly |
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The Extra Yield
This week's calendars, screens & answers
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| Weekend headline I loved: With Strait of Hormuz shipping still disrupted, I spent part of Sunday looking at domestic energy infrastructure. Energy Transfer (ET) and Enterprise Products Partners (EPD) both own critical U.S. pipeline networks — ET yields north of 7% and EPD around 6%. Adding them to my screen this week. |
| Saturday screen results: I screened 30+ BDCs for net investment income coverage above 100% this weekend. About a third passed. The average yield on those that failed? North of 18%. A giant yield means nothing if the income behind it can't cover the payout. |
| Someone asked me over the weekend: "What's the difference between a BDC and a regular bank?" Short answer — banks keep most of their profits as retained earnings. BDCs must distribute at least 90% of taxable income. That's why BDC yields hit 10%+ while most bank stocks pay 2-3%. The trade-off: BDCs retain less cushion when loans go bad. |
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| The Dispatch |
| I spent the weekend deep in BDC filings so you didn't have to. OBDC is the clean one — 11.3% with solid income coverage. FSK is the risky one — 15.6% backed by KKR but with real NAV erosion underneath. Southern Company anchors the safe side with 79 years of unbroken dividends. And AT&T stays on the watchlist until it proves the raise is coming. Tomorrow we shift gears — Dividend Aristocrats and Dividend Growth Stars. See you then. |
| — Charlie |
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*Disclaimer: Energy Exploration Technologies, Inc. (“EnergyX”) has engaged [Dividend Dispatch] to publish this communication in connection with EnergyX’s ongoing Regulation A offering. [Dividend Dispatch] has been paid $250 per lead___ in cash and may receive additional compensation. [Dividend Dispatch] and/or its affiliates do not currently hold securities of EnergyX. |
This compensation and any current or future ownership interest could create a conflict of interest. Please consider this disclosure alongside EnergyX’s offering materials. EnergyX’s Regulation A offering has been qualified by the SEC. Offers and sales may be made only by means of the qualified offering circular. Before investing, carefully review the offering circular, including the risk factors. The offering circular is available at invest.energyx.com/. Comparisons to other companies are for informational purposes only and should not imply similar results. |
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