London Stock Exchange Group (LSE:LSEG) has lifted its 2026 guidance and agreed its $3.54bn purchase of Credit data provider Octus, even as it continues to return Capital through dividends and buybacks. On a Yield below 2%, it is not an obvious income stock, but its Dividend growth record has been consistent. The numbers below draw on a data snapshot from 7 October 2026 and on company news since.

A low yield with fast growth

The snapshot shows an annual dividend of 150p per share. A latest payment is not available in the data, but the half-year results in July Supply one: an Interim Dividend of 55p, up 17% from 47p. That is a newer figure than the snapshot and accounts for just over a third of the annual total shown.

The trailing 12-month yield is 1.9%, and the indicated yield is also 1.9% when rounded. Year-on-year dividend growth stands at 15.4%, which is well above the rate of many mature FTSE 100 payers. LSEG has paid dividends for 12 consecutive years and has increased them for ten. So it is the growth rate, rather than the starting yield, that is the core of the income case.

Comfortable cover, with Debt in view

The trailing Payout Ratio is 57.1%, implying Earnings cover of about 1.75 times. That is a moderate level. It leaves earnings retained for investment, and it suggests the recent rate of dividend growth has not been achieved by stretching the payout to an uncomfortable extent.

The less visible number is leverage. A report published this week said operating net debt was £9.98bn at the end of June, against £8.18bn at December 2025, taking Leverage to 2.1 times from 1.8 times. The same report said the group expects leverage to be near the upper end of its 1.5 to 2.5 times range at the end of 2027, once planned deals and Buybacks are included. Octus will be financed with external debt, so that is the measure to monitor alongside the dividend.

Guidance upgrade and capital returns

The third-quarter update on 22 October was well received, with the shares up 3.1% at 9,062p that morning. Total income excluding recoveries grew 8.8% on an organic constant-currency basis. Management now expects full-year growth on that measure of at least 8.0%, up from a previous range of 7.0% to 7.5%. It also raised its forecast for Margin expansion to between 100 and 120 basis points, and its target for free Cash Flow to at least £2.8bn.

Octus is expected to generate more than $300m in Revenue in 2026, at an adjusted EBITDA margin of around 40%. LSEG expects the deal to be neutral to adjusted Earnings Per Share in the first full year after completion, and accretive thereafter. Completion is expected in the first half of 2027, subject to regulatory approval.

Buybacks form a large part of the group's capital returns. LSEG (LSE:LSEG) had repurchased £2.6bn of shares in 2026 by the end of the third quarter, and it plans a further £800m by February 2027. A £650m Tranche was reported to be running until no later than 24 February, and the company sees capacity for another £1.0bn to £1.5bn in 2027.

What to watch

The shares were trading around 9,566p early this week, which leaves the Dividend Yield modest. Investors should look for regulatory progress on Octus, whether organic growth holds at the upgraded rate, and how leverage develops as debt funding comes through. The final dividend announced with the full-year results will reveal whether the double-digit growth rate continues. A further sign of the board's priorities will be how it splits its available capital between dividends, buybacks and debt reduction during 2027.