4 High-Yield Dividend Stocks With Ex-Dates Approaching. One Yields 43.6%

An annualized payout of $2 per unit on a stock trading at $4.59 gives Icahn Enterprises (NASDAQ:IEP | IEP Price Prediction) a yield of roughly 43.6%. That kind of number gets an income investor’s attention fast. Icahn and three other high payers have ex-dates coming up, and a high yield matters only if the company can keep paying it. Here is what to check before you chase the next payment.

Quick test: a dividend is unsustainable when the right earnings measure for the business fails to cover it, free cash flow falls short, or rising debt or a shrinking balance sheet is paying for it. (We cataloged seven warning signs that a big yield is about to be cut in a free dividend trap guide.)

Icahn Enterprises (IEP): A Huge Yield Paid Through Losses

Icahn Enterprises is a diversified holding company. It owns CVR Energy plus businesses in real estate, food packaging, home fashion, and pharma, and it holds investment funds. It pays $0.50 per unit each quarter. The next ex-date is November 16, with payment on December 23.

The right test here is earnings per unit, and that number has been negative. Icahn lost $0.71, $0.52, and $0.31 per unit in the first three quarters of 2026. Shareholders’ equity dropped to $746 million from $1,942 million at year-end 2025. Unless holders choose otherwise, the distribution is paid in additional units, not cash. That saves the partnership cash but dilutes everyone who owns units. The price has also inflated the yield: units fell 27.52% in a month and 30.22% over a year. The payout has already been reduced twice, from $2 to $1 in 2023 and then to $0.50 in 2024.

In Icahn’s favor, it holds $2.3 billion in holding company cash and fund investments, and indicative NAV rose $865 million in the third quarter. Senior notes mature in May of 2027, and management said: “We expect to address these notes in the coming months.” Before buying, look at how they handle the refinancing and whether the refining hedge losses stop.

TORM (TRMD): Shipping Windfall Profits Make a Shaky Base for Income

TORM (NASDAQ:TRMD) operates product tankers, which carry refined fuels, so its payout rises and falls with shipping rates. It paid $4.42 over the trailing 12 months, a yield of about 12.2% at $36.28. The $1.35 interim dividend goes ex on 16 November 2026 on Nasdaq Copenhagen and 17 November 2026 on Nasdaq New York.

TORM pays out a share of profit, not a fixed amount. The policy is 75% of net profit. Third-quarter net profit came to $199 million, down from $338.3 million in the second quarter, and the dividend fell from $2.40 to $1.35. In 2025, quarterly payouts were only $0.40 to $0.62. This year’s jump came from disruptions to oil trade tied to the US-Iran conflict. Free cash flow has swung widely, from -$16.7 million in the first quarter to $245.9 million in the second, and new ship orders will add spending.

The balance sheet is in good shape, with net loan-to-value at 22.4%, and 53% of fourth-quarter earning days are already booked at $78,419/day. Before buying, check freight rates on the 4,060 earning days that were still open. The trailing yield tells you about the past, not about next year’s income.

Oxford Lane Capital (OXLC): Two Payout Cuts in Seven Months

Oxford Lane Capital (NASDAQ:OXLC) is a closed-end fund that buys equity in collateralized loan obligations (CLOs). That equity is the first slice to take losses when the leveraged loans inside a CLO go bad. The fund has declared $0.10 a month for January through March 2027. That is $1.20 a year, about 23.9% at $5.02.

The payout history shows the problem. The monthly distribution was $0.40 from October 2025 through March 2026, fell to $0.20, and will drop to $0.10. Some stock screeners still use the trailing $3.40, which works out to a yield near 67.7%. That figure is out of date. Shares are down 55.15% this year and 38.16% in the last month. For a fund like this, coverage is measured with net investment income and NAV per share. Check both in the fund’s own filings before buying.

For the reduced payout to hold, CLO equity cash flows would need to stabilize, and loan defaults would need to ease.

Horizon Technology Finance (HRZN): A Covered Payout That Needs Help

Horizon Technology Finance (NASDAQ:HRZN) is a business development company (BDC) that lends to venture-backed companies. It pays $0.06 a month, or $0.72 annualized, about 19% at $3.78. The next ex-date is December 16.

For a BDC, the right test is net investment income (NII). Adjusted NII of $0.19 per share covered the $0.18 quarterly payout, but only with help from a $1.0M/quarter management fee waiver that runs through Q2 2027. The monthly payout was $0.11 until early 2026. NAV per share fell to $5.56 from $6.98. Seven loans now carry the worst internal rating, with a cost of $65.9M and a fair value of just $18.8M. The debt portfolio yield slipped to 14.7% from 18.6%.

On the plus side, the backlog rose to $351M, and leverage is 82%, well under the 120% target. Prior coverage of what income investors missed about HRZN follows how the troubles built up. Before buying, look at NII once the fee waiver ends and whether the list of worst-rated loans keeps growing.

Yield Alone Is Never a Reason to Buy

When a dividend gets cut, the share price usually falls too, and that can wipe out years of income in a single day. All four stocks pay well today, but each shows some combination of weak coverage, shrinking NAV or equity, or profits that come and go. For more names that fit this pattern, see our recent roundup of high-yield dividend stocks that could be traps for retirement investors. Check coverage with the right measure for each business before the ex-date, not after the payout is cut.

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