We just published the list ofJim Cramer’s Top 10 Dividend Stocks for Safe, Consistent Returns and Eaton Corporation plc (NYSE:ETN) ranked 8th on this list.
From 2000 through 2009, dividends earned S&P 500 investors an annualized 1.8%, according to Hartford Funds. Even with those payments, the index posted a negative total return for the decade. Over the longer stretch from 1940 through 2025, Hartford found that dividend income accounted for an average of 33% of the index’s total return. For investors who rely on quarterly dividends to pay bills, that history raises a practical question: when sales slow and debt payments take priority, how much of that income can they count on?
The COVID-19 pandemic showed how quickly that income could change. S&P 500 companies paid $119 billion in dividends in the second quarter of 2020, slightly more than a year earlier, as companies honored dividends declared before the pandemic. During those same three months, 50 stocks in the index cut or suspended their dividends. According to S&P Dow Jones Indices, those decisions reduced expected annual payments by $29 billion.
On November 2, a U.S. soup and snack maker paid shareholders 25 cents a share, down from 39 cents in August. An investor with 1,000 shares who collected $390 in August received just $250 in November. Management cut the dividend by nearly 36% to pay down debt faster after quarterly sales fell 8%. For income investors, the warning signs matter most while the old dividend is still in place. That was the issue CNBC’s Jim Cramer raised about another food stock in September.
For consumer businesses, an early clue can be what shoppers decide they can do without. A family that skips dinner out still needs groceries, but even in the cereal aisle, it can switch brands. Those everyday choices help explain why Cramer sees 10 familiar consumer stocks so differently. On the September 18 episode of Mad Money, Cramer said he had never expected to see a familiar cereal maker yield 6.72%. The dividend had caught his eye because the shares had fallen so far. What troubled him was why a business he had long considered dependable was suddenly offering that much income.
What Impact Does a Lean Year Have on Jim Cramer Trust Holding Eaton’s Dividend?
Less than two weeks later, a caller asked Cramer about a pipeline operator yielding 7.6%. This time, he liked what he saw. The operator’s second-quarter results help explain what gave him confidence in the higher payout. In November, the operator raised its quarterly distribution by 12.5%.
Cramer has applied similar reasoning in his Charitable Trust. In his 2022 investing guide, he recalled buying shares of a drugmaker yielding 5% to 6% while investors worried about the loss of patent protection on its drug, Humira. Cramer believed the company could sustain its dividend and saw two drugs whose combined sales could eventually exceed Humira’s peak. It would take time for those sales to materialize.
Eaton’s record of paying a dividend every year since 1923 helped put this Cramer trust holding on the list. Eaton yielded 1.22% on November 9 and had 68 hedge fund holders in Q2, according to Insider Monkey’s database tracking over 1,000 hedge funds.
Eaton Corporation plc (NYSE:ETN) has paid a dividend every year since 1923. Its latest declaration calls for $1.10 per share on November 27. Data center demand has given investors a more recent reason to follow the electrical equipment manufacturer. In May, after the shares sold off, Cramer disclosed what the Charitable Trust had done with its Eaton position.
The useful comparison for income investors goes back to a period when Eaton generated considerably less cash. In 2021, it produced approximately $1.59 billion after capital expenditures and paid about $1.22 billion in dividends. In the first nine months of 2026 alone, the company generated approximately $2.22 billion on the same basis and paid roughly $1.29 billion. The dividend was affordable in the leaner year, and its latest financial report shows considerably more room to sustain it if industrial demand slows.
While we acknowledge the risk and potential of ETN as an investment, we believe certain AI stocks offer greater upside potential and carry less downside risk. If you’re looking for an extremely undervalued AI stock that also stands to benefit significantly from Trump-era tariffs and the onshoring trend, see our free report on thebest short-term AI stock.
READ NEXT: Jim Cramer Sees Buying Opportunities in These 10 Stocks and 10 Energy and Power Stocks Drawing Strong Reactions From Jim Cramer
Source: finance.yahoo.com — article syndicated from the publisher’s feed; all rights remain with the original publisher.
