Tyson dividend: cash coverage and history
MyStockButler's October 2026 analysis: Tyson’s current annual rate is $2.04, following a 2% fiscal 2026 increase. Fiscal 2025 free cash flow was $1,177M against $697M of dividends, supporting modest increases, but legal charges reached $738M that year.
How much does Tyson pay per share?
Dividends rise slowly in the base case, freeze in the bear case and grow faster in the bull case. The current annual rate is $2.04, following a 2% fiscal 2026 increase. The five-year record rose from $1.81 to $2.01 despite earlier earnings weakness. Fiscal 2025 free cash flow was $1,177M against $697M of dividends, supporting modest increases, but legal charges reached $738M that year.
| Sep 2025 | Sep 2024 | Sep 2023 | Oct 2022 | Oct 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free cash flow per share | 3.30 | 4.10 | -0.66 | 2.20 | 7.21 |
| − Dividends paid, per share | 1.95 | 1.92 | 2.36 | 1.80 | 1.74 |
| − Share buybacks, per share | 0.49 | 0.00 | 1.06 | 1.62 | 0.00 |
| = FCF not paid out, per share | 0.82 | 2.08 | 5.44 |
What this means. The company's own free cash flow per share is higher because it does not subtract the value of shares given to employees as pay; we subtract it because those shares reduce each existing share's claim on the business.
How much would Tyson's dividend pay you?
$10,000 invested in Tyson at its 3.6% dividend yield (our report of October 23, 2026) pays $360.00 in the first year, before tax. If its dividend per share keeps changing 2.9% a year, as it did from Oct 2021 to Sep 2025, and the dividends are reinvested, year 10 pays $664.71, with $4,953.33 received in all.
Before tax. Past dividend growth is not a promise. Information only, not investment advice.
Does Tyson’s cash cover its dividend?
The downturn tested Tyson’s priorities. Fiscal 2021 generated $2.6 billion of free cash flow while shareholders received $636 million. Asset disposals brought in $1.2 billion, and Tyson repaid $2.6 billion of debt. In fiscal 2022, shareholder distributions consumed 155.0% of free cash flow. In fiscal 2023, free cash flow was negative $187 million, yet Tyson paid $970 million to shareholders. The dividend therefore remained a claim on cash even when operations did not provide enough.
Cash generation recovered in fiscal 2025, when free cash flow reached $1.2 billion. Shareholders received $871 million, or 74.0% of that amount. Net debt fell from $8.1 billion to $7.6 billion, although it remained above fiscal 2021’s $6.8 billion. That was genuine balance-sheet progress, but not a complete reversal of the earlier expansion.
| Sep 2025 | Sep 2024 | Sep 2023 | Oct 2022 | Oct 2021 | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Free cash flow | 1,177 | 1,458 | -187 | 800 | 2,631 |
| − Dividends paid | 697 | 684 | 670 | 653 | 636 |
| − Share buybacks | 174 | 0 | 300 | 587 | 0 |
| = Free cash flow not paid out | 291 | 739 | 1,987 | ||
| Paid out, % of free cash flow | 74.0% | 46.9% | not meaningful | 155.0% | 24.2% |
What this means. In 2023 and 2022, the company paid shareholders more cash than it made, so it used savings or borrowed money to cover the difference.
What could change Tyson’s dividend?
Fourth-quarter and full-year results scheduled for November 16, 2026 will test the reduced fiscal 2026 outlook. In fiscal 2027, Beef closures and network changes must reduce losses while Chicken and Prepared Foods support group earnings. Through fiscal 2028–2029, sustained Beef improvement, durable Chicken margins and free cash flow after legal payments, investment and shareholder distributions decide the outcome.
What is Tyson’s dividend yield today?
| Today (Oct 23, 2026) | |
|---|---|
| Share price | 56.70 |
| Free cash flow yield (calculated) | 5.9% |
| Real free cash flow yield (calculated) | 5.4% |
| Dividend yield (calculated) | 3.6% |
What this means. The next-year price-to-earnings ratio is much lower because it uses analysts’ expected profit, not profit the company has already earned.