LQD Dividend: Next Ex-Date, History & Total Return

The iShares iBoxx $ Investment Grade Corporate Bond ETF (LQD) seeks to track the investment results of the iBoxx USD Liquid Investment Grade Index, a rules-based index of U.S. dollar-denominated, investment-grade corporate bonds for sale in the U.S. S&P Dow Jones Indices, the index provider, decides which bonds count as investment grade and sets the composition and relative weightings of the index.¹

BlackRock Fund Advisors (BFA) uses an indexing approach to try to achieve LQD's investment objective. The fact sheet describes the fund as a way to pursue income and diversify fixed income exposure through high-quality corporate credit.^1,2

LQD distributes monthly. iShares says its monthly-distributing bond ETFs intend to go ex-dividend on the first business day of each month, except for January, which is expected to be recognized in mid-December. Each dividend is declared after the market closes on the business day before the ex-dividend date, and on the pay date the fund pays broker-dealers, who then allocate it to individual client accounts.^2,3

LQD's index is a subset of the iBoxx USD Corporate Bond Index. As of the prospectus date, an eligible bond's issuer must be domiciled in a country S&P Dow Jones Indices classifies as a developed market, with at least $2 billion outstanding face value. The bond needs at least $750 million of outstanding face value and at least three years to maturity, or three years and 6 months for new insertions.¹

Each bond needs an average rating of investment grade, using ratings from Fitch, Moody's or S&P Global Ratings, averaged when more than one agency rates it. The index is modified market-value weighted with a cap of 3% on each issuer.¹

BFA manages LQD with representative sampling, and the fund may or may not hold every index component. The sample is expected to have, in the aggregate, characteristics similar to the index's, including duration (an instrument's price sensitivity to a change in interest rates), maturity and credit ratings.¹

LQD will invest at least 80% of its assets in the index's component securities, and at least 90% in fixed income securities of the types included in the index that BFA believes will help it track the index. No more than 10% may go into futures, options and swaps contracts and other types of fixed income securities, chosen for the same purpose.¹

Dividend Stacker's record of past payments, with per-share amounts adjusted for any share splits or reverse splits, shows 12 distributions in every completed year from 2003 through 2025. The 2003 total was $5.49 per share, and the largest annual total in the record was $5.73 in 2009.⁴

Annual totals fell in each year from 2010 through 2017, reaching $3.77 per share in 2017. After gains of 9.7% in 2018 and 1.6% in 2019, the total dropped 12.7% in 2020 and 17.1% in 2021, to $3.05 per share, the lowest annual total in the record.⁴

The record then shows 4 consecutive completed years with a higher annual total: up 14.2% in 2022, 27.1% in 2023, 7.5% in 2024 and 3.9% in 2025, when the total reached $4.94 per share.⁴

LQD's corporate bonds carry credit risk: the risk that an issuer, guarantor or liquidity provider may be unable or unwilling, or may be perceived as unable or unwilling, to make timely principal and/or interest payments or to otherwise honor its obligations. LQD may be adversely affected if a holding experiences a downgrade or a default.¹

An increase in interest rates generally will cause the value of fixed-income securities to decline, and securities with longer maturities generally are more sensitive to rate changes. During periods of very low or negative rates, LQD may be unable to maintain positive returns or pay dividends.¹

When rates fall, the issuer of a callable bond LQD holds may repay it before its stated maturity, and the fund may have to reinvest in lower-yielding instruments, or in ones with greater risks or other less favorable features. LQD's income may also decline due to falling interest rates or other factors, for example when it has to replace a bond that matures, is called or is prepaid with a lower-yielding one.¹

Where its index is concentrated in an industry or group of industries, LQD will be too, holding 25% or more of its total assets there, which may leave it susceptible to an increased risk of loss. The prospectus also lists two sector risks: financial companies are subject to extensive governmental regulation and intervention, and consumer goods and services companies face risks including changes in consumer preferences and disposable income.¹

Because LQD will not fully replicate its index, BFA's strategy may not produce the intended results. The fund may also be subject to tracking error, the divergence of its performance from the index's.¹