dividend cover

noun

the number of times that a company's dividends to shareholders could be paid out of its annual profits after tax, used as an indication of the probability that dividends will be maintained in subsequent years

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012