5 Dividend Stocks Going Ex-Dividend This Week. Which Payouts Are Safest?

APA Corporation (NASDAQ:APA | APA Price Prediction) goes ex-dividend on October 22, 2026. Four more income names follow on October 23, 2026. Markets reopen Monday. Investors who want these payments have at most four trading sessions to get on the shareholder list. The payouts are due between October 30 and November 23, and some of these dividends are much better covered than others.

How the deadline works: you have to own shares before the ex-dividend date, so the last day to buy is the trading day before it. The pay date is when the cash arrives. Buying on or after the ex-date means you won’t get this payment.

APA Corporation (APA): Last Day to Buy Is October 21

APA pays $0.25 per share with an ex-date of October 22, 2026, so the last day to buy is Wednesday, October 21. The payment date is November 23. The $1 annual rate yields about 2.03% at Friday’s close of $49.15.

Coverage looks solid. Trailing diluted EPS of $4.73 puts the payout ratio near 21%. Second-quarter adjusted EPS came in at $1.89, and free cash flow was $738 million. APA aims to return at least 60% of 2026 free cash flow to shareholders. The low yield comes from a rising price: shares are up 105.65% year to date and now trade above the $47.69 average analyst target.

Lakeland Financial (LKFN): Highest Yield on the List

Lakeland Financial (NASDAQ:LKFN) pays $0.52 per share, with an ex-date of October 23, 2026, so investors must buy by Thursday, October 22. Shareholders will be paid on November 5. The $2.08 forward rate yields about 3.59% at $58.00.

For a bank, EPS is the right metric. Trailing diluted EPS of $4.36 means a payout ratio near 48%. Second-quarter EPS of $1.13 covered the quarterly dividend more than twice. Credit quality supports that: nonperforming assets fell 36% year over year, and net interest margin reached 3.49%. The quarterly payout has increased from $0.30 in 2020 to today’s level. Some of the yield comes from price weakness, since the stock is still 10.91% below where it was five years ago.

First Busey (BUSE): Fastest Cash Turnaround

First Busey (NASDAQ:BUSE) pays $0.26 per share with an ex-date of October 23, 2026. Shares must be bought by October 22, and payment is due October 30, the fastest on this list. The $1.04 forward rate yields about 3.53% at $29.43.

Trailing EPS of $2.42 puts the payout ratio near 43%, and second-quarter adjusted EPS of $0.69 covered the dividend more than twice. Busey also spent $128.8 million on buybacks in the first half, a sign of surplus capital. The yield comes alongside a 27.36% gain so far this year, so price weakness has not inflated it.

Kaiser Aluminum (KALU): Strong Earnings, Uneven Cash Flow

Kaiser Aluminum (NASDAQ:KALU) pays $0.77 per share with an ex-date of October 23, 2026, so buyers need to act by October 22. Shareholders will be paid on November 13. At $147.25, the $3.08 annual rate yields about 2.09%.

Measured against EPS, the dividend looks safe. Trailing EPS of $13.48 means a payout ratio near 23%. Cash flow tells a worse story. In 2025, operating cash flow of $111.4 million fell short of $136.9 million in capital spending. That left free cash flow at-$25.5 million, while dividends cost $51.3 million. The first half of 2026 was better, with free cash flow of $103.6 million against $26.4 million in dividends. The stock trades at 28x forward earnings and 11x trailing earnings, which suggests analysts expect profits to fall. The dividend has stayed at $0.77 since 2022.

Coca-Cola Consolidated (COKE): Safest Coverage, Smallest Yield

Coca-Cola Consolidated (NASDAQ:COKE) pays $0.25 per share with an ex-date of October 23, 2026. Investors must buy shares by October 22, and the payment date is November 6. At $210.33, the yield is only about 0.48%, so this stock is more of a total-return holding than an income play.

It has the best coverage in the group. Trailing EPS of $7.53 means a payout ratio near 13%. Second-quarter free cash flow of $131.1 million was far larger than the $16.6 million paid in dividends. The company has also paid large special dividends, including $16.50 in January 2024, but those are irregular. Investors should count only the regular quarterly rate.

One Payment Should Not Drive the Decision

Share prices usually drop by about the dividend amount on the ex-date, so buying solely for a single dividend rarely adds value. The case for these stocks rests on coverage: Lakeland and First Busey combine yields above 3.5% with payouts below 50% of earnings, while Kaiser’s cash flow needs watching. Whatever you decide, the deadlines are fixed. Anyone who has not bought APA by October 21, or the other four by October 22, will miss this round of payments.

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