The free dividend tracker to help you grow your wealth. Link your brokerage accounts and MerryDiv automatically syncs your holdings and dividends.
Data last updated: Oct 17, 2026
Dividend Yield: 4.88%
Dividend Frequency: monthly
Years of Dividend History: 25
The iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF dividend comes from a fund that tracks the U.S. dollar-denominated liquid investment-grade corporate bond market, investing at least 90% of its assets in fixed income securities that mirror the underlying index. LQD currently yields 4.91%, placing it firmly in high-yield territory for a bond ETF. The fund pays monthly, making it a natural fit for income investors who want regular cash flow rather than quarterly distributions. That yield level, backed by investment-grade bond holdings, draws income-focused investors who prioritize current income over capital appreciation.
For iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF dividend safety, the payout level is not applicable (fund/ETF) in the traditional sense. Instead, distributions reflect the aggregate coupon income generated by the fund's investment-grade corporate bond holdings, which must meet the index's liquidity and credit quality standards. The most data-supported pressure point is interest rate sensitivity: the annual dividend per share fell from $4.2073 in 2019 to $3.0444 in 2021, a meaningful drop that shows how shifts in the rate environment can pull distributions lower even within an investment-grade mandate.
iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF dividend history shows a CAGR of -0.4% per year from 2010 to 2025. Per-share payouts moved from $5.2820 in 2010 to $4.9377 in 2025, a net decline over the full window (2026 is a partial year and excluded from this calculation). The largest single-year jump in the data was 27.0% in 2023, but the window also contains at least one year-over-year decline exceeding 5%, which means growth has been anything but linear. Over 15 years, the dividend has essentially gone nowhere on a compounded basis.
| Period | CAGR | From | To |
|---|---|---|---|
| 3-Year | +12.4% | $3.48 (2022) | $4.94 (2025) |
| 5-Year | +6.1% | $3.67 (2020) | $4.94 (2025) |
| 10-Year | +2.2% | $3.96 (2015) | $4.94 (2025) |
LQD fits income-focused investors who want monthly cash flow from investment-grade corporate bonds and can accept that the payout level fluctuates with interest rates rather than growing predictably. The current yield is high (above 4%), which is the fund's primary draw. The trade-off is real: a -0.4% CAGR over 15 years means the per-share income has not kept pace with inflation, and the history table shows multi-year stretches of declining distributions. Four consecutive years of increases through 2025 show recent momentum, but the longer record makes clear this is an income vehicle where yield level matters more than dividend growth.
| Payment Date | Amount per Share |
|---|---|
| 2026-10-01 | $0.4390 |
| 2026-09-01 | $0.4437 |
| 2026-08-03 | $0.4576 |
| 2026-07-01 | $0.3815 |
| 2026-06-01 | $0.4133 |
| 2026-05-01 | $0.4245 |
| 2026-04-01 | $0.4465 |
| 2026-03-02 | $0.3828 |
| 2026-02-02 | $0.4078 |
| 2025-12-19 | $0.4365 |
| Year | Total Dividends |
|---|---|
| 2026 | $3.7967 |
| 2025 | $4.9377 |
| 2024 | $4.7506 |
| 2023 | $4.4203 |
| 2022 | $3.4794 |
Project income from LQD with the LQD dividend calculator or track your full portfolio with the dividend tracker.