Apollo dividend: history and cash coverage
Apollo's dividend was $1.99 per share in 2025, and its 2026 guidance starts at $2.25 per share. Apollo's consolidated operating cash flow is not a clean measure of dividend coverage because it includes Athene premiums and policy benefits, plus investment purchases and sales.
How much does Apollo pay per share?
Dividends rise from $2.25 per share to $2.75 in the base case. The starting rate follows Apollo’s 2026 guidance, while the later $0.25 annual increases reflect the recovery from $1.99 in 2025 and three consecutive annual increases. The bear case freezes at $2.25 because the 2022 cut shows distributions can weaken; the bull case reaches $3.20 if FRE and SRE growth support larger increases.
Is Apollo's dividend covered by its cash?
An industrial company’s operating cash flow mainly reflects customers, suppliers and payroll. Apollo’s figure can also include Athene premiums and policy benefits, plus investment purchases and sales inside consolidated funds. Those are real cash movements, but they do not measure cash produced by management fees.
Apollo returned $1.974 billion through dividends and buybacks in 2025. In the table’s presentation, net debt ended at $1.839 billion, meaning debt exceeded cash and short-term investments by that amount. Apollo has also issued and repaid debt across the group, so one year’s cash movement does not establish whether its investments earned enough.
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| − Dividends paid | 1,201 | 1,092 | 1,012 | 962 | 517 |
| − Share buybacks | 773 | 890 | 561 | 635 | 299 |
| Cash and short-term investments | 3,677 | 2,850 | 2,810 | 1,311 | 1,380 |
| = Net debt | 1,839 | 1,429 | 1,073 | 1,553 | 12,308 |
What this means. The net debt shown here is our estimate using Apollo’s asset-management cash and debt, while Apollo’s own measure also includes investments and performance fees.
What could change Apollo's dividend?
The November 3, 2026 results announcement is the first evidence point for whether the 2026 FRE and SRE targets remain credible. The view would move toward the bear case in 2027 and 2028 if alternative returns weaken, credit losses rise, or spread earnings miss the assumptions.
What is Apollo's dividend yield against its share price?
Apollo’s November 3, 2026 results are the first test of target credibility. Through 2027–2029, fee-paying asset growth and margins, Athene credit and spread performance, origination quality, deployment and redemptions will decide whether earnings support the forecast multiple. The $4.0 billion authorization is discretionary; actual buybacks and stock awards will affect per-share outcomes. The 2.0% dividend yield and 1.2% buyback yield do not establish earnings quality.
| Today (Oct 17, 2026) | |
|---|---|
| Share price | 110.78 |
| P/E, next 12 months (calculated) | 12.8x |
| Dividend yield (calculated) | 2.0% |
What this means. The business value leaves out Athene's cash and debt, but the sales figure includes Athene, so this comparison does not cover exactly the same business.