Fortive dividend
MyStockButler's October 2026 analysis: Fortive's latest quarterly dividend was $0.07, up 16.7%, and its base dividends per share rise from $0.30 in 2027 to $0.34 in 2029. Cash coverage is strained: shareholder payments reached 182.9% of Fortive's own free cash flow in 2025, while repurchases reached $1,000.4 million against $748.2 million of free cash flow in the first nine months of 2026.
How much does Fortive pay per share?
Base dividends per share rise from $0.30 in 2027 to $0.32 in 2028 and $0.34 in 2029. The forecast uses modest increases because the latest quarterly dividend was $0.07, up 16.7%, while management described future growth as modest. The bear case holds the payout at $0.28 because debt and buybacks compete for cash. The bull case reaches $0.38 because stronger cash generation supports faster increases. Free cash flow was $1.062 billion over the latest twelve months, but recent buybacks exceeded period free cash flow.
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| EPS, diluted | 1.59 | 1.37 | 1.15 | 0.88 | 0.51 |
| Real free cash flow per share | 2.43 | 2.42 | 1.86 | ||
| − Dividends paid, per share | 0.28 | 0.32 | 0.29 | 0.28 | 0.28 |
| − Share buybacks, per share | 4.81 | 2.52 | 0.77 | 1.23 | 0.00 |
What this means. The company's own free cash flow per share is the same as ours, so there is no difference to explain; in 2025 it paid out more than its free cash flow because buybacks and dividends together exceeded the cash it generated.
How much would Fortive's dividend pay you?
$10,000 invested in Fortive at its 0.4% dividend yield (our report of October 29, 2026) pays $40.00 in the first year, before tax. If its dividend per share keeps changing 0.0% a year, as it did from 2021 to 2025, and the dividends are reinvested, year 10 pays $41.46, with $407.28 received in all.
Before tax. Past dividend growth is not a promise. Information only, not investment advice.
Is Fortive's dividend covered by its cash?
Fortive’s spending pattern changed sharply. In 2021, acquisitions absorbed $2,570.1 million, including ServiceChannel and Provation. Buybacks became the larger use later: Fortive spent $889.6 million on them in 2024 and $1,610.1 million in 2025. Shareholder payments exceeded free cash flow in both years, reaching 106.2% in 2024 and 182.9% in 2025.
The policy continued through the nine months ended October 2, 2026: repurchases reached $1,000.4 million against $748.2 million of free cash flow. That makes the next question unavoidable: what exactly remained inside Fortive after Ralliant left?
| 2025 | 2024 | 2023 | 2022 | 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free cash flow | 930.6 | 942.4 | 754.8 | 742.3 | 587.5 |
| − Dividends paid | 92.2 | 111.2 | 102.0 | 99.5 | 97.7 |
| − Share buybacks | 1,610.1 | 889.6 | 272.9 | 442.9 | 0 |
| = Free cash flow not paid out | 379.9 | 199.9 | 489.8 | ||
| Paid out, % of free cash flow | 182.9% | 106.2% | 49.7% | 73.1% | 16.6% |
What this means. Our net debt is 2,830.5 million dollars, while the company's own rounded figure is 2,800 million dollars, because we use exact balance-sheet amounts and the company rounds its number.
What could change Fortive's dividend?
Management promises adjusted diluted EPS of $3.10–$3.14. The guidance is for FY 2026 and was raised on October 28, 2026. That promise depends on Q3’s 7.2% core growth, including 4.9 points from volume. Q4 has four fewer selling days.
What is Fortive's dividend yield today?
Fortive generated $1.062 billion of trailing free cash flow, including about $22 million of tariff refunds received. The cash-flow yield therefore needs a test for recurring operating cash, working-capital timing and unusual benefits. The 10-year Treasury yield was 5.05% on October 28, 2026, providing a useful benchmark for the return investors can obtain without owning a business.
| Today (Oct 29, 2026) | |
|---|---|
| Share price | 64.11 |
| Free cash flow yield (calculated) | 4.9% |
| Dividend yield (calculated) | 0.4% |
What this means. The next-twelve-months price-to-earnings number uses analysts’ guesses about future profit, so it can change even if the share price does not.