Key Takeaways
- Verizon yields 6.1% and Kimberly-Clark yields 4.8%, and both held their dividends steady through a rough October.
- Verizon’s dividend uses 52% of its free cash flow on a trailing basis, while Kimberly-Clark’s uses 92%.
- Kimberly-Clark has raised its dividend for 54 years in a row and grew it 3% a year from fiscal 2020 to 2025, against 2% for Verizon.
- The risk to watch is SpaceX’s push into wireless for Verizon and the Kenvue deal’s debt for Kimberly-Clark.
Any retiree living off dividends wants a check that shows up whatever the stock does. Verizon (VZ) and Kimberly-Clark (KMB) both just went through a stretch that tested theirs.
Verizon’s stock fell nearly 9% on Oct. 9, its worst day since 2002, after SpaceX agreed to buy a nationwide block of 800 MHz spectrum for its Starlink Mobile service. Verizon still paid its $0.7075 quarterly dividend on Nov. 2.
Kimberly-Clark spent the same weeks taking on debt. It sold $4.9 billion of notes on Oct. 29 to help pay for Kenvue, closed the deal on Nov. 2, and today declared its regular $1.28 quarterly dividend.
So which is the better dividend stock for retirees?
| Metric | Verizon | Kimberly-Clark |
|---|---|---|
| Dividend yield | 6.1% | 4.8% |
| Dividend growth, fiscal 2020-2025 | 1.9% a year | 3.3% a year |
| Cash dividend payout ratio, TTM | 52% (to Sept. 30, 2026) | 92% (to June 30, 2026) |
| Cash dividend payout ratio, forward | 53% (fiscal 2026) | 90% (fiscal 2026) |
| Net debt/EBITDA | 3.3x | 1.5x |
| Interest coverage | 4.3x | 12.2x |
| Forward P/E | 8.7x | 15x |
Source: TIKR, Nov. 5, 2026. Verizon’s yield is its current dividend over the latest price.
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Verizon is growing again
Verizon’s core business is picking up speed. Mobility and broadband service revenue rose 2.9% in the third quarter of 2026 from a year earlier, to $23.5 billion, and management expects about 4% growth in the fourth quarter. Verizon now expects free cash flow to grow close to 12% this year, up from its earlier 9% to 10%.
That cash covers the dividend comfortably. Over the twelve months to Sept. 30, 2026, Verizon paid $11.72 billion in dividends from $22.38 billion of free cash flow, a comfortable 52%, and analysts expect 53% for fiscal 2026. Free cash flow has topped the dividend in every year since fiscal 2018:
Even fiscal 2022, its tightest recent year, used only 77%.
“We remain committed to growing the dividend,” management said on the third-quarter call. It has, slowly: 1.9% a year from fiscal 2020 to fiscal 2025.
SpaceX isn’t done, though. Bloomberg reported on Oct. 23 that it’s in talks to use at least 80,000 US cell sites, and SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said on its Oct. 20 call that it’s aiming for service on its own airwaves in early 2028. Verizon also carries more debt, at 3.3x EBITDA.
Kimberly-Clark’s streak meets a big deal
Kimberly-Clark’s yield is smaller, but its record is longer. The company says it has raised its dividend in each of the past 54 years, and it grew the dividend 3.3% a year from fiscal 2020 to fiscal 2025.
The business is mixed. Third-quarter 2026 net sales slipped 0.4% from a year earlier to $4.1 billion, with a social media disruption hurting its China diaper business, though adjusted EPS from continuing operations rose 17% to $1.70.
The dividend runs far tighter. Over the twelve months to June 30, 2026, it used 92% of free cash flow, and analysts expect 90% for fiscal 2026 (a forecast only three analysts make, and last year’s consensus missed by 23%). In fiscal 2025, dividends ran slightly ahead of free cash flow:
Cash from operations did improve, to $2.4 billion in the first nine months of 2026 from $1.8 billion a year earlier.
Kenvue brings Tylenol and Zyrtec, and management reiterated $2.1 billion of expected run-rate synergies on Nov. 2. It also brings debt. On top of the new notes and about $1.0 billion of commercial paper, Kimberly-Clark swapped about $6.4 billion of Kenvue’s bonds for its own on Nov. 4. Its 1.5x leverage predates all of that, and management expects mid-single-digit dilution to stand-alone EPS in 2027.
So which dividend wins?
For retirees, I’d go with Verizon. Retirees seeking income want a check they can count on, and Verizon pays the bigger one with far more room to spare. $10,000 at its 6.1% yield pays $607 a year, and the dividend uses just over half of free cash flow, against 92% for Kimberly-Clark.
You don’t pay up for that check, either. Verizon trades at 8.7x forward earnings, right around its five-year average of 8.8x and well below March’s 10.5x:
This isn’t to say Kimberly-Clark’s dividend is in trouble. Fifty-four straight years of raises is a record management will work very hard to keep, and it held the payout through the Kenvue close. At each stock’s five-year rate, Kimberly-Clark’s income would pass Verizon’s in about 17 years. That’s a long wait for a retiree, though: in year 10, $10,000 in Kimberly-Clark pays about $644, against about $722 for Verizon. And a 92% payout plus a fresh pile of debt leaves little cushion for the next surprise.
Of course, SpaceX is the wild card. If it wins FCC approval for its spectrum and launches Starlink Mobile in 2028, Verizon will have a fourth rival fighting for its wireless customers.
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Disclaimer:
Please note that the articles on TIKR are not intended to serve as investment or financial advice from TIKR or our content team, nor are they recommendations to buy or sell any stocks. We create our content based on TIKR Terminal’s investment data and analysts’ estimates. Our analysis might not include recent company news or important updates. TIKR has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading, and happy investing!
