Does Baxter International (BAX) Pay a Dividend? (2026)

Yes. Baxter International pays a dividend yielding roughly 0.16% as of September 2026, paid quarterly, four times a year. The most recent payment on record was $0.0100 per share with an ex-dividend date of August 28, 2026. That works out to a forward annual rate of about $0.0400 per share. Yields move with the share price, so verify the current figure with your broker or BAX's investor relations page before relying on it.

About 0.16% as of September 2026. On a $10,000 position that is roughly $16 of dividend income a year before tax. For context, the S&P 500 yields around 1.2%, so BAX yields meaningfully less than the broad market. A higher yield is not automatically better: it can reflect a falling share price as easily as a generous payout, so it is worth checking why the number is what it is.

Baxter International pays quarterly, four times a year. The most recent payment on record had an ex-dividend date of August 28, 2026. To receive a given payment you have to own the shares before the ex-dividend date, not on the pay date. Confirm upcoming dates on BAX's investor relations page, because boards can change both the amount and the timing.

The ex-dividend date recorded in our September 2026 data pull is August 28, 2026. The ex-dividend date is the cutoff: buy on or after it and the seller keeps that payment, not you. Buying just before the ex-date to capture the dividend does not create free money, because the share price typically drops by roughly the dividend amount when the stock goes ex. Check BAX's investor relations page for the next confirmed date.

$0.0100 per share in the most recent payment (ex-date August 28, 2026), which annualizes to about $0.0400 per share. The equivalent payment a year earlier was $0.17. We are not quoting a growth rate off those two figures because the change is large enough that a share split or a gap in the stored history is the more likely explanation.

Not in the last year. The latest payment of $0.0100 per share is below the $0.17 paid a year earlier. A flat dividend is not necessarily a warning sign, but it does mean the income is losing ground to inflation.

Baxter International paid out about 308% of reported net income as dividends, which means the dividend was larger than accounting earnings over the period. That sounds alarming and sometimes is, but it is normal and expected for REITs, BDCs, and companies carrying large non-cash charges such as amortization, because those businesses are judged on cash measures (FFO, AFFO, or distributable net investment income) rather than GAAP net income. The useful check for BAX is whether the cash-flow measure covers the payout, not the earnings-based ratio. Nobody can guarantee a dividend: boards cut them, and a high yield is sometimes the market pricing in exactly that. Walnut is not an investment adviser and this is not a recommendation.

At a yield of about 0.16%, roughly $16 a year before tax, spread across 4 payments. That is a snapshot, not a promise: the amount changes when the company changes its payout, and your yield on cost is fixed at the price you paid, not at today's price.

Dividends from US common stock are usually qualified, meaning they are taxed at the lower long-term capital-gains rates, provided you held the shares for more than 60 days in the 121-day window around the ex-dividend date. Distributions from REITs, BDCs, and some pass-through structures are generally taxed as ordinary income instead. In an IRA or Roth the question does not arise. See our guide to how dividends are taxed. This is not tax advice.

Most brokers offer automatic reinvestment (a DRIP) that puts each BAX payment straight back into more shares, often fractional ones. Reinvesting compounds the position and is the standard choice when you do not need the cash yet. Taking the cash makes sense when you are spending the income or want to direct it elsewhere. Either way the dividend is taxable in a taxable account in the year it is paid, even if you never see the money.

Baxter cut its quarterly dividend from $0.17 to $0.01 per share starting in January 2026, so the yield is now negligible. The reduction frees over $300 million a year for debt paydown, which management has named the priority for cash.