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- The Healthcare Giant Showing It Can Control Costs and Grow Again
The Healthcare Giant Showing It Can Control Costs and Grow Again
A strong quarter, improved cost discipline, and upgraded guidance signal a business regaining control, with margins stabilizing and earnings momentum building again.
After a challenging stretch, signs of real progress are starting to come through in both performance and outlook.
This is about more than a beat; it is a shift toward stronger control, improving margins, and more reliable growth.

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Industrials
A $1.4B Exit Just Revealed Where Honeywell Is Headed Next

Honeywell (NASDAQ: HON) just made a decisive move to reshape its future. The company is selling its productivity solutions and services unit to Brady Corporation for $1.4 billion in cash.
This is not happening in isolation.
Honeywell has been actively trimming its portfolio, including spinning off its advanced materials business and exiting its PPE business, which suggests a clear pattern is forming.
Cutting the Fat Fast
Honeywell is moving quickly to simplify what has historically been a very complex business. Selling this unit removes a piece that does not fully align with its future focus areas, such as aerospace and automation.
That kind of focus does not come without trade-offs. The company is giving up a steady revenue stream, but doing so to build a more concentrated, potentially higher-performing core.
A Bigger Breakup Is Taking Shape
This deal fits into a much larger transformation.
Honeywell has already outlined plans to split into more defined segments, and moves like this help make that structure cleaner and easier to execute.
The goal is not just simplification; it is clarity in how each business operates and grows.
This is where things get interesting. Your perspective should shift from seeing Honeywell as one giant company to seeing it as multiple focused businesses being shaped in real time.
The company is not done yet.
With this unit gone, Honeywell has more room to double down on higher-margin areas and potentially unlock more value through further restructuring or targeted investments.
HON currently trades at $224 and pays a dividend of $4.76 per share, a yield of 2.12%.

Telecom
AT&T Is Quietly Building a Stickier Customer Machine

AT&T (NYSE: T) just delivered a signal that goes beyond a typical quarter update.
The company added 294,000 postpaid wireless subscribers, beating expectations, and the real driver was not aggressive discounting; it was bundling wireless with high-speed fiber.
Nearly 42% of AT&T households using home internet are now also on its wireless plans. That number matters because it shows how deeply the company is starting to connect its services to everyday customer decisions.
Bundles Are Doing the Heavy Lifting
AT&T is linking fiber and wireless in a way that makes switching providers more complicated for customers.
You are not just choosing a phone plan anymore; you are choosing a combined setup that touches both your home and your mobile life.
That creates a different kind of competition. Instead of fighting for a single subscription, AT&T is locking in multiple services at once, which makes customers far less likely to leave.
Pricing Strategy Is Getting Smarter
The company is not blindly chasing growth with discounts.
The company raised prices at the low and high ends while adjusting mid-tier plans to guide customers toward more balanced options.
That approach avoids a race to the bottom while still keeping the offering attractive.
AT&T is already reorganizing its business around connectivity, with 5G and fiber at the center.
You could be looking at the early stages of a model where telecom companies stop selling plans and start selling full digital infrastructure for everyday life.
T currently trades at $25 and pays a dividend of $1.11 per share, a yield of 4.42%.

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Financial
BlackRock Is Quietly Rewiring Finance Behind the Scenes

BlackRock (NYSE: BLK) just stepped into a part of crypto that actually changes how finance works. The firm, alongside Mastercard, Gemini, and Ripple, completed tests using a regulated stablecoin to settle payments on the XRP Ledger.
This is not about trading tokens; it is about using blockchain to move real money in real systems.
The focus was on RLUSD, a stablecoin designed to enable faster, more transparent, and easier-to-track payments. That alone signals a shift from watching blockchain to actively building on it.
From Watching Crypto to Using It
For years, institutions circled crypto without fully committing. Now, BlackRock is testing infrastructure that can handle payments, liquidity, and asset movement in a single system.
You are no longer looking at experiments; you are looking at early-stage blockchain deployment in traditional finance.
The XRP Ledger provides built-in tools such as a decentralized exchange and automated liquidity. That means fewer middlemen and faster settlement, which directly challenges how current financial rails operate.
This Is Bigger Than Payments
The implications stretch beyond card transactions.
BlackRock’s tokenized fund infrastructure is now linked to this system, allowing investors to convert holdings into a liquid format that can be traded 24 hours a day.
That removes one of the biggest frictions in traditional finance: limited access to liquidity.
When firms like BlackRock start integrating blockchain into real workflows, others tend to follow quickly to avoid falling behind. That creates a network effect, accelerating adoption faster than expected.
BLK currently trades at $1056 and pays a dividend of $22.92 per share, a yield of 2.16%.

Dividend Stocks Worth Watching
Best Buy Co., Inc. (NYSE: BBY) is handing the CEO role to company veteran Jason Bonfig, marking a leadership transition as the retailer looks to reignite sales growth after several stagnant years.
Bonfig steps in at a time when momentum is starting to improve, with management pointing to better customer trends and a more favorable product cycle ahead.
The shift comes as AI begins to reshape the consumer electronics landscape, from the devices customers buy to how they shop.
Bonfig has been closely involved in key growth areas, including e-commerce, marketplace expansion, and advertising, positioning him to lead the next phase.
For dividend investors, this is a transition built on continuity rather than disruption.
With improving demand signals and a potential upgrade cycle driven by AI-enabled devices, the focus now turns to whether new leadership can translate that momentum into sustained revenue growth and stable cash flow support.
BBY pays a 96-cent dividend, yielding 6.09%.
UnitedHealth Group Incorporated (NYSE: UNH) has delivered a strong first quarter, beating expectations on both earnings and revenue while raising its 2026 profit outlook.
Adjusted EPS came in at $7.23 on revenue of $111.72 billion, as the company continues to tighten cost controls and streamline operations.
A key highlight was the medical benefit ratio improving to 83.9%, well ahead of expectations and down from last year, signaling better cost management despite ongoing pressure from high utilization and expensive treatments.
The company also reaffirmed its long-term positioning with a focus on AI investment, operational simplification, and portfolio adjustments.
For dividend investors, this is a clear step in the right direction. Improving margins, upgraded guidance, and a more disciplined cost base strengthen confidence in earnings durability and support the foundation for continued income growth.
UNH pays a $2.21 dividend, yielding 2.49%.
T-Mobile US, Inc. (NASDAQ: TMUS) could be part of a broader restructuring as Deutsche Telekom explores creating a new holding company to increase its control, potentially forming the world’s largest telecom operator by market value.
The proposal is still at an early stage and faces significant hurdles, including shareholder alignment and regulatory approvals across the US and Europe.
If it progresses, it could give T-Mobile greater scale and resources, particularly to accelerate its fiber ambitions.
For dividend investors, this remains a watchlist development rather than a near-term catalyst.
Strategic upside lies in scale and integration, but uncertainty around execution and approvals keeps the income outlook unchanged for now.
TMUS pays a $1.02 dividend, yielding 2.16%.

Dividend Increases
SUN has increased its dividend to 99 cents, up 6.2%. Its new yield is 6.07%.
NIC has upped its dividend to 36 cents, a rise of 12.50%. Its new yield is 0.93%.
OTIS has boosted its dividend to 44 cents, an increase of 4.76%. Its new yield is 2.23%.
MCB has raised its dividend to 25 cents, up 25%. Its new yield is 1.1%.
WES has lifted its dividend to 93 cents, a rise of 2.20%. Its new yield is 9.15%.
CPKF has grown its dividend to 18 cents, a lift of 5.9%. Its new yield is 2.09%.

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Trivia: How much has Apple returned to shareholders through buybacks and dividends since reinstating its dividend in 2012? |

Upcoming Dividend Payers
DHR’s ex-dividend date for the forthcoming 40-cent payment is 04/24/26.
SYY’s ex-dividend date for the forthcoming 55-cent payment is 04/24/26.
MKC’s ex-dividend date for the forthcoming 48-cent payment is 04/27/26.
AMT’s ex-dividend date for the forthcoming $1.79 payment is 04/28/26.

Everything Else
Seven buy and hold forever stocks with decades long dividend histories are named in a free report including a healthcare leader with 61 straight years of payout growth.
Both UPS and FedEx have filed requests for tariff refunds on behalf of customers. The logistics firms will then reimburse senders for any funds received from the original tariff-related charges.
Microsoft has confirmed it will begin to integrate Anthropic’s Claude Mythos model into its secure coding framework as it redoubles efforts to bolster its cybersecurity capabilities.
Goldman Sachs has appointed a new global head for its private and alternatives capital markets business. The role will be filled by the current GS chief commercial and strategy officer of Transaction Banking, Akila Raman.
The maker of Budweiser, Busch Light, and Michelob ULTRA will invest an additional $600 million in its American manufacturing facilities. Anheuser-Busch says the investment will secure US manufacturing jobs and allow new skills-training centers to be opened.

That’s all for today’s edition of the Dividend Brief.
Thanks for reading, and if you have any feedback or dividend stocks you want me to take a look at, just reply to this email!
—Noah Zelvis
DividendBrief.com


