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

The iShares 20+ Year Treasury Bond ETF (TLT) seeks to track the ICE U.S. Treasury 20+ Year Bond Index, which measures the performance of public obligations of the U.S. Treasury with a remaining maturity greater than twenty years. BlackRock describes the fund as a way to gain targeted exposure to long duration government debt; duration measures the sensitivity of a bond's price to changes in interest rates. TLT pays distributions monthly.^1,2

TLT will invest at least 80% of its assets in the index's component securities, and at least 90% in U.S. Treasury securities that BlackRock Fund Advisors (BFA) believes will help it track the index. BFA uses representative sampling, holding securities or other instruments that together have an investment profile similar to the index, so TLT may or may not own every index component. It will invest no more than 10% of assets in futures, options and swaps that BFA believes will help it track the index.¹

To enter the index, a publicly issued Treasury security must have more than twenty years left to maturity, be fixed-rate and denominated in U.S. dollars, and have $300 million or more of face value outstanding, excluding amounts held by the Federal Reserve. Inflation-linked securities, Treasury bills, cash management bills, agency debt, zero-coupon issues and securities issued or marketed primarily to retail investors are all left out.¹

The index is weighted by market value and updated on the last calendar day of each month. ICE Data Indices, which is independent of the fund and BFA, decides which bonds are in it and how much each one weighs.¹

Dividend Stacker's record of past TLT payments begins with an ex-date in September 2002 and shows 12 distributions in every completed year from 2003 through 2025. The annual total was $4.53 per share in 2003 and $3.86 in 2025. The record's per-share amounts are adjusted for any share splits or reverse splits.³

The total fell 23.0% in 2020 to $2.37, and reached the record's lowest annual total of $2.22 in 2021. It then rose 19.8% in 2022, 25.8% in 2023, 12.3% in 2024 and 2.8% in 2025, making 4 consecutive completed years with a higher annual total.³

TLT's index holds Treasury securities with more than twenty years to maturity, and securities with longer maturities generally are more sensitive to interest rate changes and subject to greater fluctuations in value. An increase in interest rates generally will cause the value of fixed-income securities to decline.¹

Rate changes can be sudden and unpredictable and are influenced by factors including government and monetary policy, inflation expectations, perceptions of risk, and supply and demand for fixed-income securities. During periods of very low or negative interest rates, TLT may be unable to maintain positive returns or pay dividends.¹

The value of TLT's U.S. Treasury securities may decline if the U.S. government's financial condition or credit rating changes. Direct Treasury obligations have historically involved little risk of loss of principal if held to maturity, but their market value is not guaranteed and may fluctuate. They are backed by the full faith and credit of the United States, yet circumstances could arise that could prevent the timely payment of interest or principal.¹

TLT's income may decline due to falling interest rates or other factors, since the fund may be required to buy lower-yielding bonds when a bond it holds matures, nears maturity, is called or is prepaid, when index bonds are substituted, or when it otherwise needs to buy bonds.¹

TLT holds a representative sample of its index, and tracking error, the divergence of its performance from the index's, may be heightened during times of increased market volatility or other unusual market conditions. Periods of high volatility and disruptions in creating and redeeming shares, among other factors, may also lead TLT's shares to trade at a premium or discount to net asset value.¹