Health care dividend payout ratios
44 companies, computed from their own SEC filings. 21 of them answer differently by 20 points or more depending on which basis you divide by.
What ordinary looks like here
On the basis each company’s own filings make applicable, the median health care company pays out 38.9%. Half sit between 19.0% and 60.0%. Across all 532 companies here the median is 41.9% — 3.0 points less than the site as a whole.
Which basis applies, and to how many
Not a choice — it is what each company’s filings support.
Where the bases disagree most
The same dividend, a different answer. These are the widest gaps in health care.
- AbbVie (ABBV) 220.5 pts
- Zhengye Biotechnology Holding (ZYBT) 121.2 pts
- U S Physical Therapy (USPH) 90.3 pts
- Humana (HUM) 78.7 pts
- Baxter International (BAX) 63.6 pts
Lowest payout
- Ensign Group 2.6%
- Pacific Health Care Organization 3.3%
- HCA Healthcare 8.8%
- Chemed 9.8%
- PACS Group 11.2%
Highest payout
- Humana 114.7%
- 3M 111.9%
- Pfizer 107.7%
- Baxter International 104.8%
- Iradimed 87.5%
Common questions
What is a good dividend payout ratio for a health care company?
Measured on the basis its own filings support, the median here is 38.9%, with half between 19.0% and 60.0%. That is the empirical answer for this sector rather than a rule of thumb, and it is the only comparison that means anything — a figure that is ordinary in one sector is stretched in another.
Which measure should a health care company be judged on?
38 of the 41 measured here are read on free cash flow, because that is what their filings support. Each company’s page shows every basis it can be measured on and marks the one that applies.
Where do these numbers come from?
Each company’s own annual filing, read out of SEC XBRL. Every page names the accession number its figures came from and links it to EDGAR, so any figure here can be checked against the source.
All 44 companies
What a dividend payout ratio measures, and why one threshold does not fit every sector.
| Ticker | Company | Basis | Yield | Spread | Rating |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ABBV | AbbVie | FCF | — | 220.5 | 28 |
| ZYBT | Zhengye Biotechnology Holding | FCF | — | 121.2 | 40 |
| USPH | U S Physical Therapy | FCF | — | 90.3 | 27 |
| HUM | Humana | FCF | — | 78.7 | 0 |
| BAX | Baxter International | FCF | — | 63.6 | 7 |
| MMM | 3M | FCF | — | 63.2 | 1 |
| PACS | PACS Group | FCF | — | 48.0 | 75 |
| PFE | Pfizer | FCF | — | 43.0 | 3 |
| BDX | Becton Dickinson | FCF | — | 36.6 | 40 |
| BMY | Bristol Myers Squibb | FCF | — | 36.3 | 53 |
| OGN | Organon | FCF | — | 34.7 | 71 |
| LLY | Eli Lilly | FCF | — | 32.9 | 38 |
| IRMD | Iradimed | FCF | — | 27.2 | 39 |
| MDT | Medtronic | FCF | — | 26.5 | 51 |
| DVA | Davita | FCF | — | 26.2 | 62 |
| UNH | Unitedhealth Group | FCF | — | 25.8 | 31 |
| CNMD | Conmed | FCF | — | 25.2 | 66 |
| RPRX | Royalty Pharma | OCF | — | 22.5 | 58 |
| ABT | Abbott Laboratories | FCF | — | 21.5 | 33 |
| ELV | Elevance Health | FCF | — | 21.2 | 18 |
| MRK | Merck | FCF | — | 21.1 | 47 |
| DGX | Quest Diagnostics | FCF | — | 17.0 | 51 |
| AMGN | Amgen | FCF | — | 16.4 | 30 |
| JNJ | Johnson & Johnson | FCF | — | 16.3 | 41 |
| ZBH | Zimmer Biomet Holdings | FCF | — | 15.8 | 87 |
| SYK | Stryker | FCF | — | 14.1 | 67 |
| STE | STERIS | FCF | — | 13.0 | 72 |
| LH | Labcorp Holdings | FCF | — | 12.9 | 74 |
| NHC | National Healthcare | FCF | — | 12.1 | 62 |
| CI | Cigna Group | OCF | — | 10.5 | 39 |
| TECH | Bio-Techne | FCF | — | 10.5 | 77 |
| ZTS | Zoetis | FCF | — | 8.3 | 49 |
| MSA | MSA Safety | FCF | — | 7.0 | 60 |
| GILD | Gilead Sciences | FCF | — | 6.7 | 66 |
| VTRS | Viatris | FCF | — | 4.9 | 52 |
| HCA | HCA Healthcare | FCF | — | 4.8 | 77 |
| CHE | Chemed | FCF | — | 3.8 | 78 |
| RMD | Resmed | FCF | — | 3.6 | 67 |
| ENSG | Ensign Group | OCF | — | 1.8 | 66 |
| PFHO | Pacific Health Care Organization | FCF | — | 0.7 | 79 |
| SCLX | Scilex Holding | FCF | — | 0.0 | 47 |
| ARDT | Ardent Health | — | — | — | — |
| LAKE | Lakeland Industries | — | — | — | 71 |
| LITS | Lite Strategy | — | — | — | — |