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

The iShares Preferred and Income Securities ETF (PFF) seeks to track the ICE Exchange-Listed Preferred & Hybrid Securities Index. That index measures a select group of exchange-listed, U.S. dollar-denominated preferred securities, hybrid securities and convertible preferred securities listed on the New York Stock Exchange or the Nasdaq Capital Market. These securities are generally issued with a fixed par value and pay dividends based on a percentage of that par value, at a fixed or variable rate.¹

In general, preferred stock is an equity security with a specified dividend that must be paid before common stockholders receive any, and it takes precedence over common stock if the company is liquidated. A hybrid security, in general, combines debt and equity characteristics. The hybrids in PFF's index generally rank ahead of common stock in an issuer's capital structure and are issued and traded much like traditional preferred stock.¹

BlackRock Fund Advisors manages PFF with representative sampling: it invests in a sample of securities or other instruments meant to give the fund an investment profile similar to the index. PFF may or may not hold every index component, and it pays distributions monthly.^1,2

ICE Data Indices sets size floors by security type. Preferred stocks need amounts outstanding over $100 million, convertible preferreds need at least $50 million face amount outstanding, and hybrids need at least $250 million face amount outstanding, along with minimum maturity and other requirements as applicable. The index is weighted by market capitalization subject to certain constraints, caps any single issuer at 4.75%, and is rebalanced monthly.¹

The index may include many categories of preferred and hybrid securities, such as fixed and floating rate preferreds, fixed-to-floating rate securities, callable, convertible, cumulative and non-cumulative preferreds, certain capital securities, trust preferreds, or various other preferred stock and hybrid securities. It includes securities of non-U.S. issuers. PFF will concentrate its investments, meaning hold 25% or more of its total assets, in an industry or group of industries to approximately the same extent its index is concentrated.¹

PFF tracked the S&P U.S. Preferred Stock Index through January 31, 2019, and an ICE transition index from February 1 through October 31, 2019, before switching to its current index.¹

Dividend Stacker's record of past payments shows PFF making 12 distributions in every completed year from 2008 through 2025. The annual total was $2.76 per share in 2008 and reached $2.89 in 2009, the highest in the record. The figures are adjusted for any share splits or reverse splits.³

Totals fell in seven of the ten years from 2010 through 2019, from $2.89 in 2009 to $2.00 in 2019, with the steepest drop, 12.5%, in 2011. The smallest total in the record was $1.76 in 2021. Payments rose 4.5% in 2022 and 12.7% in 2023 to $2.07, then slipped 4.0% to $1.99 in 2024 and 1.9% to $1.95 in 2025. That year PFF's smallest monthly distribution was $0.0659 and its largest was $0.1755.³

Preferred stock generally pays dividends only after a company makes required payments to creditors, including bondholders. As a result, its value will react more strongly than bonds to real or perceived changes in the issuer's finances. Issuers may defer or not pay dividends, and preferred stock may be less liquid than many other types of securities, such as common stock. Hybrids are generally subordinated to traditional debt in bankruptcy.¹

In certain situations, an issuer may call or redeem its preferred stock, and it may decide to call based on its assessment of the relative cost of capital across its capital structure. PFF's income may decline due to falling interest rates or other factors, since the fund may be required to invest in lower-yielding bonds when a holding is called. A market-wide increase in calls may also raise the risk of PFF being underinvested in its index.¹

Preferred stocks carry fixed-income risks such as interest rate risk. A rise in interest rates generally causes fixed-income securities to lose value, and longer maturities are generally more sensitive. Fixed-to-floating and floating rate securities can be less sensitive to rate changes than fixed-rate securities, but may decline in value if their rates do not rise as much, or as quickly, as rates in general.¹

Credit risk is the risk that an issuer may be unable or unwilling, or may be perceived as unable or unwilling, to make timely payments. Financial companies risk is also a principal risk for PFF: financial services companies are subject to extensive governmental regulation and intervention and may be significantly affected by interest rates, economic conditions and credit rating downgrades, among other things.¹