Franklin Universal Trust · FT · NYSE
Distribution report · updated Nov 9, 2026
$7.50 +1.49% on the day, +$0.11
FT fund page: price, charts & signals →
UnlockDividend Safety Rating: paid plans onlyDividend Safety Rating: paid plans only Is FT’s distribution Very Safe or High Risk? 6 checks scored. NAV trend, payout stability, crash test and 3 more. Show the rating
Yearly payout / yield
$0.52·6.88%
$0.043 monthly x 12 ⓘ
Next payment
$0.0425/mo
pays Nov 30 ⓘ
Next ex-date
Nov 20
ex in 10 days ⓘ
Paying since
1988
405 payments on file
Pays
Monthly
12 payments a year
Yield vs history ⓘ
68
Above its usual yield
FT share price & total return
Daily closing price, adjusted for stock splits.
FT stock page »All dividend lists »Build a portfolio around FT »
DSRSimilar stocksHistoryPayoutsFAQ
Last 20 payments
FT Dividend Growth (CAGR)
1Y -1.1%3Y 0.0%5Y 0.0%10Y +2.9%
Per-share amount, by the date it paid (~ = about, from its usual pay gap). Light bar = declared, not yet paid. The enlarge button shows all 405 payments since 1988.
Annual dividends and growth
Total paid per share in each calendar year. 2026: the solid bar is paid so far; the dashed box on top is expected (2 declared and not yet paid), not a promise. Years with an extra or a missing payment (dates sliding across New Year) are compared per payment.

How Many FT Shares for $500 or $1,000 a Month?

At $0.52 a share a year, $500 a month takes about 11,628 FT shares, about $87,210 at the Nov 9, 2026 close of $7.50. $1,000 a month takes about 23,256 shares, about $174,420. Before taxes, and only while the rate holds.

Franklin Universal Trust (FT) pays $0.043 a share monthly, $0.52 a year, a 6.88% run-rate yield at the Nov 9, 2026 close of $7.50. It has made 405 distribution payments since 1988.

At today’s rate of $0.043 monthly and the last close of $7.50, this is what FT pays before taxes, if the rate stays where it is:

You holdEach paymentPer month (avg)Per year
1 share$0.043$0.04$0.52
100 shares$4.30$4.30$51.60
$10,000 invested (1,333.3 shares)$57.33$57.33$688.00
11,628 shares ($500/mo)$500.00$500.00$6,000.05
23,256 shares ($1,000/mo)$1,000.01$1,000.01$12,000.10

With DRIP on, every payment buys more shares instead of landing as cash. 100 FT shares reinvest into 0.57 new shares each payment, about 7.1 new shares a year at today’s price and rate, and each new share collects the next payment too. To DRIP one whole new share every payment you need about 175 shares. A rising payout speeds that up; a falling share price buys more shares per payment, but each is worth less. See the snowball over 10 to 30 years with FT’s own history in the FT DRIP calculator.

The payout is not the return. In the 12 months to Nov 9, 2026, FT paid $0.52 a share while its share price fell from $7.95 to $7.50. Distributions exceeded total return by $0.45 a share, so part of every payment above was your own money coming back.

UnlockDividend Safety Rating: paid plans only
Dividend Safety Rating Not financial advice
See FT’s rating and its 6 factors.
See the rating & factors »
An algorithmic rating built from reported data, not a recommendation.
  • NAV trend: is the fund’s share price holding up report
  • Distribution funded by NAV: is it paying you with your own money report
  • Distribution stability: how much the payout jumps around history
  • Distribution trend: is the payout growing or shrinking history
  • Crash test: how the fund held up in market drops history
  • Yield sanity: is the yield too high to be believable rating

FT Dividend Yield Today vs Its 5-Year Range

68/100Above its usual yieldvs its 10-yr history
  • FT yields 6.88% today, at the Nov 9, 2026 close of $7.50.
  • Its own 10-year median is 6.26%, so today’s yield is above its usual level.
Last 5 years: lowest to highest month-end yield
6.10% low18.49% high
Blue mark = today, grey = its 10-year median. A higher yield than usual means a lower price against the payout.

Where today ranks in its own history is in the paid report

How it works. Each month-end over the last 10 years gives one yield: the regular payment then, times payments a year, over that day’s close. Specials are left out. 50 means today’s yield sits right at its usual level. A lower score means the yield is below its usual level, so the price is high against the payout. A higher score means the yield is above its usual level. On price alone a payer stays between 15 and 85. Steady raisers get a few points back. It reads the past, not the future.

When Is FT’s Next Distribution? November 2026 Ex-Date and Pay Date

FT’s next distribution is $0.0425 a share, declared, with the ex-date on Nov 20, 2026. Own FT by the close on Nov 19, 2026 to collect it; shares bought on the ex-date or later do not get it. It pays on Nov 30, 2026. The latest one, $0.043 a share, went ex on Oct 23, 2026 and paid around November 2026.

  • Ex-dates: about every 31 days (monthly)
  • Payment: usually about 13 days after the ex-date

Every payer going ex-dividend this week is on the dividend calendar.

How Often Does FT Pay?

FT pays monthly, 12 times a year. The ex-date comes about every 31 days, and the cash usually lands about 13 days later.

Paid in the 12 months to Nov 9, 2026
$0.52 a share, in 12 payments.
+0.5% against the 12 months before ($0.51 in 12 payments).
By ex-date, the same 12 months the NAV check on this page reads. The yield up top uses today’s rate instead, so a raise or a cut shows there first.
Payout months
JanFebMarAprMayJunJulAugSepOctNovDec
Pays every month.

FT vs Similar Dividend Funds (IDE, VPV...)

Against the 10 dividend funds in Asset Management closest to FT in fund size, FT’s 6.88% run-rate yield is below the group’s middle yield of 9.00%. A higher yield than the group is not a bonus by itself: in income funds it often comes with a faster-falling share price, so read it next to the NAV trend and the rating.

Ticker Dividend ⓘ Yield Safety Rating
FT $7.50Franklin Universal Trust $0.043/mo$0.52/yr fwd 6.88% Dividend Safety Rating: paid plans only
IDE $12.02Voya Infrastructure, Industrials and Materials Fund $0.10/mo$1.20/yr fwd 9.98% Dividend Safety Rating: paid plans only
VPV $10.97Invesco Pennsylvania Value Municipal Income Trust $0.067/mo$0.80/yr fwd 7.33% Dividend Safety Rating: paid plans only
SILVX $19.75SGI U.S. Large Cap Equity Fund Class I $0.106/yr 0.54% Dividend Safety Rating: paid plans only
WBGSX $6.79William Blair Growth N $2.946/yr 43.39% Dividend Safety Rating: paid plans only
OPP $7.14RiverNorth/DoubleLine Strategic Opportunity Fund $0.091/mo$1.09/yr fwd 15.29% Dividend Safety Rating: paid plans only
GGT $3.76Gabelli Multimedia Trust $0.07/mo$0.84/yr fwd 22.34% Dividend Safety Rating: paid plans only
SPE $12.20Special Opportunities Fund $0.109/mo$1.31/yr fwd 10.72% Dividend Safety Rating: paid plans only
GF $10.38New Germany Fund $0.019/half-yr$0.04/yr fwd 0.37% Dividend Safety Rating: paid plans only
BSL $12.92Blackstone Senior Floating Rate 2027 Term Fund $0.084/mo$1.01/yr fwd 7.80% Dividend Safety Rating: paid plans only
FLC $16.02Flaherty & Crumrine Total Return Fund $0.107/mo$1.28/yr fwd 8.01% Dividend Safety Rating: paid plans only

FT Dividend History: Every Payment Since 1988

Ex-datePay dateAmountFrequencyType
Dec 23, 2026Dec 31, 2026$0.0425MonthlyDeclared
Nov 20, 2026Nov 30, 2026$0.0425MonthlyDeclared
Oct 23, 2026Oct 26, 2026$0.043MonthlyRegular
Sep 23, 2026Sep 25, 2026$0.043MonthlyRegular
Aug 24, 2026Aug 26, 2026$0.043MonthlyRegular
Jul 24, 2026Jul 27, 2026$0.043MonthlyRegular
Jun 23, 2026Jun 25, 2026$0.043MonthlyRegular
May 21, 2026May 25, 2026$0.043MonthlyRegular
Apr 23, 2026Apr 27, 2026$0.043MonthlyRegular
Mar 24, 2026Mar 26, 2026$0.043MonthlyRegular
The other 395 FT payments come with a paid plan.
Show all 405 payments »
Newest first. Amounts are per share as paid, restated for splits; frequency is the schedule on file for that payment; a payment over 2.5x its neighbours is marked special.
From reported payments, prices and filings — data, not investment advice.

What the Dividend Safety Rating Means for FT

UnlockDividend Safety Rating: paid plans only
See where FT lands, and why.
See the rating & factors »
Own FT? Your payouts fill in by themselves Add FT once, with your buy date and share count. Every distribution since fills in, dated and in dollars, and with DRIP on each new share is counted for you.
Track FT →

FT Dividend Questions

How often does FT pay distributions?

FT pays monthly, 12 times a year. The ex-date comes about every 31 days, and the cash usually lands about 13 days later.

Does FT pay distributions monthly?

Yes. FT pays monthly, 12 times a year.

When is the next FT distribution?

FT’s next distribution is $0.0425 a share, declared, with the ex-date on Nov 20, 2026. Own FT by the close on Nov 19, 2026 to collect it; shares bought on the ex-date or later do not get it. It pays on Nov 30, 2026. The latest one, $0.043 a share, went ex on Oct 23, 2026 and paid around November 2026. The current rate is $0.043 per share, $0.52 a year.

Does FT pay a distribution in November 2026?

Yes. FT declared $0.0425 a share with the ex-date on Nov 20, 2026, paying on Nov 30, 2026. Own FT by the close on Nov 19, 2026 to collect it; shares bought on the ex-date or later do not get it.

How much does FT pay per share?

FT pays $0.043 a share monthly, $0.52 a year. At the Nov 9, 2026 close of $7.50 that is a 6.88% run-rate yield, above its usual level: its own 10-year median is 6.26%.

Does FT’s payout grow?

Its last 12 payments (about a year) averaged $0.0429, +0.1% against $0.0429 for the 12 before. Its payout floats with the income the fund earns each period, so there is no fixed rate to raise. Measured over a full year, the payout rate changed -1.1%.

Is FT’s distribution safe?

No rating can promise a future payment, but the record on file says a lot. In the 12 months to Nov 9, 2026 it paid $0.52 a share while its share price went from $7.95 to $7.50. This is data, not investment advice. The full 6-check rating comes with a plan.

How do I track my FT distributions?

Add FT to a free DRIPCalc portfolio once, with your buy date and share count. Every payout since fills in, dated and in dollars; with DRIP on, the new shares each payment buys are counted for you, so there is no spreadsheet to update and no broker login. To project the snowball, run FT in the DRIP calculator.

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How this page is built: the rate is the latest regular distribution per share; run-rate yield = rate × payments per year ÷ last close (Nov 9, 2026), never a trailing 12-month total, which lags after a raise and hides a cut. Specials and one-off payments never count in the rate; a payer whose regular payments differ in size is annualized over its last full cycle of regular payments. Raise streak = consecutive calendar years with a higher amount per payment than the year before; years without a cut = years in which the amount per payment held within 1%. The Dividend Safety Rating reads 6 visible lines: coverage, streak, raise pace and yield range for dividend stocks; NAV trend, NAV funding and payout stability for income funds. Similar payers = the same sector or fund group, nearest in market value or fund size. Payments, prices and filings come from DRIPCALC’s price and dividend database. History is not a forecast. This is data, not investment advice.