Three Ex-Dividend Dates You Have Until Monday to Grab

The week ahead is short, choppy, and light on macro data. That means dividend action is where the real signal lives.

Three names go ex this Monday, July 6, and each tells you something different about where yield is hiding right now.

One's a Sun Belt utility. One's a Sun Belt office REIT. One's a global staffing shop most income investors forget pays a dividend at all. Let's get into it.

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Defense

Lockheed Martin Is Closing In on a $3.5 Billion Undersea Defense Prize

Lockheed Martin (NYSE: LMT) is reportedly leading the race to buy Ultra Maritime in a deal that could value the naval defense business at about $3.5 billion.

Ultra Maritime specializes in anti-submarine warfare and undersea defense technology, and for Lockheed, that fits directly into a world where sea power is becoming more important again, especially as governments rethink military readiness across Europe, the Middle East, and the Indo-Pacific.

Deal Would Strengthen the Portfolio

Lockheed already plays a major role across air, missile, space, and defense systems. Adding Ultra Maritime would deepen its naval offering and give the company more ways to serve the government’s growing maritime security spending.

A deal like this puts your attention on portfolio depth. Lockheed would not be buying size for size's sake; it would be adding a defense asset that fits the next phase of global military demand.

Geopolitics Keeps Raising the Stakes

Rising tensions have made undersea surveillance and naval defense more urgent for U.S. allies. Submarines, ports, cables, pipelines, and shipping lanes are now part of the security conversation.

If Lockheed wins the auction, you have a company strengthening its hand in a defense market where underwater capability is becoming harder to ignore. The deal would give Lockheed another growth lane as military budgets continue to shift toward advanced systems and long-term readiness.

LMT currently trades at $545 and pays a dividend of $13.80 per share, a yield of 2.53%.

Healthcare

Pfizer Just Opened a Bigger Door in China’s GLP-1 Market

Pfizer's (NYSE: PFE) GLP-1 drug Ecnoglutide has passed a preliminary review for possible inclusion in China's basic medical insurance drug catalog. The drug is already approved in China for weight management and type 2 diabetes, and a final reimbursement decision could come before the end of the year.

For Pfizer, the opening is about access. China's insurance list can make drugs available to far more patients, even if companies often accept lower prices to gain that reach.

China Becomes the Access Test

The GLP-1 market is already crowded with powerful names, but China changes the scale of the opportunity. A country with 1.4 billion people can turn reimbursement into a serious commercial lever if pricing talks succeed.

Follow the reimbursement process, and you'll find Pfizer's real opportunity: not a headline drug approval, but a possible route to broader, everyday use across a massive healthcare system.

Pfizer Needs New Growth Lanes

Pfizer has been under pressure to rebuild momentum after its pandemic-era surge faded. A stronger position in China's GLP-1 market would give the company another shot at participating in one of pharma's fastest-growing treatment categories.

The decision is not final yet, and failed pricing negotiations would keep the drug off the reimbursement list next year. Still, if Pfizer clears the next step, you have a company gaining a stronger foothold in a market where access can matter as much as the medicine itself.

PFE currently trades at $24 and pays a dividend of $1.72 per share, a yield of 7.07%.

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Banking

A $676 Billion Deal Wave Puts Goldman Back on Top

Goldman Sachs (NYSE: GS) captured the largest share of EMEA merger advisory work in the first half of 2026, giving the bank its strongest start in the region since 2018.

Dealmaking across Europe, the Middle East, and Africa reached $676 billion, more than double last year’s level and the highest first-half total in 19 years.

Big Deals Carry the Brand

Goldman did not win the top spot by volume alone. Its edge came from being attached to the largest, most complex transactions, where boards usually want advisers with global reach, regulatory experience, and deep buyer networks.

Scan the league table, and you find Goldman doing what it wants to be known for, sitting closest to the boardroom when companies make their biggest decisions. That matters because advisory dominance reinforces the bank’s power with corporate clients.

Leadership Gets Harder to Challenge

JPMorgan narrowed the gap, and league tables can still shift if announced deals fail to close. Even so, Goldman’s first-half position shows how deeply the bank remains embedded in high-end dealmaking.

If the M&A rebound continues, you have Goldman entering the second half with a clear advantage: the biggest companies are once again investing in transformation, and Goldman is already at the center of that deal flow.

GS currently trades at $1021 and pays a dividend of $18.00 per share, a yield of 1.76%.

Here are the individual stocks that announced dividend hikes over the past week worth flagging:

Bank OZK (NASDAQ: OZK) bumped its quarterly payout again, extending a streak that now runs over a decade of consecutive increases. Trailing yield sits near 2.9%.

PNC Financial Services (NYSE: PNC) declared a higher quarterly dividend following the Fed's stress test results. Yield hovers around 2.5%.

Northeast Community Bancorp (NASDAQ: NECB) raised to $0.25/share, payable August 6. Yield around 3.6%. Small-cap, but the dividend growth trajectory is real.

World Kinect (NYSE: WKC) declared a higher payout as the energy marketer continues to convert cash flow into shareholder returns.

Worthington Enterprises (NYSE: WOR) announced a $0.20 quarterly dividend for September 29, continuing a modest but steady growth pattern.

Cuts have been rare this cycle, but one to note:

Sabine Royalty Trust (NYSE: SBR) posted a July distribution of $0.4292, down 14.7% from the prior month. This is typical for royalty trusts and reflects lower realized oil and gas prices, not a management decision.

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Everything Else

•  🛢️ Kuwait sharply boosted crude output in June after the US-Iran deal, adding supply to a market energy dividend payers wanted tight.

• 💰 Oil up slightly ahead of long US weekend as peace efforts hold.

• 📊 Iran's Revolutionary Guards say they killed Kurdish militants in northwest Iran.

• 🏦 Syrian foreign minister says Syria open to meeting Hezbollah, Lebanese state.

• 📈 Americans are paying record prices for steak. Here's why demand isn't cracking.