As the largest publicly-traded Business Development Company (“BDC”), Ares Capital (ARCC) is not only well-positioned to defend its big dividend (current yield is 9.3%) with spillover capital, but it’s also well-positioned with multiple levers for growth (e.g. conservative balance sheet leverage, fees and plenty of deal flow). And despite the big risks (such as falling rates, spread compression and “hidden” liabilities), the latest earnings announcement suggests it continues to present an attractive valuation for long-term income focused investors. This report shares data on 10 top big-yield BDCs, then reviews the details on Ares and concludes with a strong opinion on investing.
High Income Portfolio: New Risks, New Opportunities
This report shares recent data on all 25 positions in the 9.8% aggregate yield “High Income Portfolio,” and highlights notable risks and investment opportunities as you manage your own income-focused portfolio. Notably, we’ve seen some share price movements (as the market continues to digest tariffs, interest rate dynamics and the ebbs and flows between value and growth) that are worth considering as you manage your own investments.
Top 10 BDCs: Contrarian Yield in a Greedy Market
Business Development Companies (BDCs) continue to provide big steady yields (income) to investors despite a challenging BDC environment, including interest rate volatility, increasing competition and economic uncertainty. Although BDC strategies are varied, they generally provide loans to riskier private business where traditional bank lending is less suitable, and then reduce aggregate risks by doing so through a diversified portfolio (within their areas of expertise). Many are facing selling pressure (see 14-day money flow index) and some trade below book value (generally an indication of fear, depending the the particular BDC strategy). Increasingly compelling contrarian yield opportunities in an otherwise greedy market environment.
Ares Capital: 25+ Big-Yield BDCs Compared (Earnings Season Edition)
Income-focused investors are frequently attracted to business development companies (“BDCs”) for their large dividend payments. And among BDCs, Ares Capital (ARCC) is the stalwart blue chip that leads the industry (and currently offers a big 9% dividend yield). But before you invest in Ares, let’s take a closer look at what they do and how they compare to peers (especially ahead of this upcoming BDC earnings season). In this report, we review the business, the current market environment (especially fixed-versus-floating interest rate dynamics, plus rising non-accruals), what we like and don’t like (i.e. risks) and then conclude with our strong opinion on investing.
Big-Yield BDC Comps: ARCC, MAIN, OBDC, OCSL
A lot of income-focused investors are attracted to BDCs for their large dividend yields. However, not all BDCs are created equally. In the following table you will see comparative data for top BDCs, including the percent of investments that have fixed-versus-floating rates, the percent of debt they have that is fixed-versus-floating rate, price-to-book value, current dividend yields and the percent of first lien loans they have made as investments.
Forget High Growth: Top 10 Big Yields Worth Considering (August Edition)
There comes a time in every investor’s life when they realize chasing high growth stocks makes absolutely no sense whatsoever. Sure, if you’re 25 and want to roll the dice (on “the next big thing”) go for it. But if you’ve built a nest egg, and you just want your investments to produce big steady income, this report is for you. We countdown our top 10 big yield investments (including REITs, BDCs, CEFs and more) with a special focus on why each opportunity is uniquely attractive right now.
Top 10 Big-Yields: REITS, BDCs, CEFs (July Update)
Concentration can help you get rich, but diversification helps you stay rich. And if you own 25 different flavors of big-yield mortgage REITs—you’re still not exactly “well diversified.” In this report, we countdown our to 10 big-yield opportunities, with a special focus on diversifying your risks (across different investment types) while simultaneously keeping your income high.
Distribution Quality Scores: 10 Top Big-Yields, Ranked
One of the greatest concepts ever is retiring and simply living off the dividends. No work, no tasks, just big steady distributions rolling in like clockwork (for you to spend and live life however you please). The problem with this, of course, is that many investors end up chasing after the biggest yield opportunities without properly considering the quality of those yields. In this report, we introduce our “Big-Yield Quality Scores,” ranking 10 very popular big yields, including PDI, JEPI, SCHD, USA, ARCC, AGNC and more.
Ares Capital: Building A Monster-Yield Portfolio (BDCs, CEFs, REITs)
If you are an income-focused investor, building a monster big-yield portfolio (8% to +11% yields), across a variety of categories (such as BDCs, CEFs and REITs), can help you achieve your goals. In this report, we share updated data on the top 7 securities (by market cap) in each of the three categories, and then dive deep into BDC Ares Capital (ARCC) (including its business strategy, current market environment, valuation, dividend safety and risks). We conclude with our strong opinion about constructing a high-income portfolio and about investing in Ares Capital.
35 Big-Yield BDCs: Despite Climbing Risks, 3 Top Ideas Worth Considering
BDCs can be an excellent source of high income, but they are not the holy grail that some investors believe. The group faces mounting pressures as well as categorical drawbacks (that are often overlooked). In this report, we share updated data on over 35 big-yield BDCs, review our concerns with the group, highlight 3 top BDCs that standout as attractive, and then conclude with a few alternative high-income opportunities that are currently worth considering too.
Ares Capital: 40 Big-Yield BDCs, Compared
In this report, we compare 40+ big-yield BDCs, including a special focus on industry stalwart, Ares Capital (ARCC). Specifically, we rank the BDCs based on various metrics, including price-to-book value, dividend yield and a variety of other factors. We then dive into the specifics on Ares, including a discussion of how it is fortifying its financials for a potential macroeconomic storm. We conclude with our strong opinion about investing in BDCs at this point in the market cycle, and our specific views on investing in Ares Capital, in particular.
Ares Capital: Big-Yield BDC, Fortifying for the Storm
Ares Capital is a popular big-dividend (9.7% yield) BDC. It has a long track record of success in providing capital (financing) to diverse middle market companies. However, on a go-forward basis, you cannot feasibly underwrite all 490 portfolio companies Ares works with. Fortunately, Ares does it for you, and they’re good at it. Also fortunately, you do have the ability to assess the current market environment (i.e. the big macroeconomic challenges that are coming) and how it will affect Ares’ unique business (we also do this for you in this report). And after reviewing Ares in detail (i.e. the business, the financials, the risks), we conclude with our strong opinion on investing.
Ares Capital: 40 Big-Yield BDCs Compared
Many income investors love Ares Capital (ARCC) for its big dividend yield and long history of healthy performance. But considering the current market environment, are the shares still worth owning? Or are there better BDC options available? In this report, we share comparative data on over 40 big-yield BDCs, and then dive deeper into Ares (including its business, valuation, dividend safety and risks). Next, we briefly consider two Ares alternatives (Blue Owl and Hercules Capital). Finally, we conclude with our strong opinion on investing in these specific big-yield BDC opportunities, especially with BDC earnings season right around the corner.
100 Tempting Big Yields: These 4 Worth Considering
If you are an income-focused investor, there are many big-yield strategies to choose from. However, not all of them may be right for you. In this report, we share updated data on a wide variety of big-yield opportunities, including over 100 big-yield REITs, CEFs, BDCs and more. Then we highlight four names from the list that are particularly interesting and worth considering. Specifically, we highlight three tempting big-yield opportunities that we are currently avoiding, followed by one very attractive big-yielder that we currently own.
Update: 40 Big-Yield BDCs, Silicon Valley Bank Warning
As mentioned in our previous note, BDCs are like banks, only riskier. Not only are BDCs facing increasing stress due to slowing economic growth and increasing interest rates (i.e. the tradeoff between higher floating rate interest payments received and higher default risk on loans), but some BDCs (such as those focused on venture capital) are dramatically over-exposed to fallout from the Silicon Valley Bank mess. In this note, we share updated data on 40 BDCs, and then dive deeper into 4 specific venture-capital-focused BDCs—and how we expect them to fare in light of the SVB mess—buyer beware!
Ares: 40 Big-Yield BDCs, Silicon Valley Bank Warning
Business Development Companies (“BDCs”) are like banks, only riskier. And some BDCs are heavily concentrated in the venture capital (“VC”) space, just like Silicon Valley Bank (SIVB) that just shuttered its doors as the result of a VC-led bank run. In this report, we review Ares Capital (including its investment industry exposures and risks) and then compare it to 40 other BDCs, including four in particular that are heavily concentrated in the VC space. We conclude with our strong opinion about investing in BDCs, Ares Capital and VC-focused BDCs in particular.
BDCs: Financially Strong, Despite Deteriorating Market
9.6% Yield BDC: Risks and Rewards Increasing
The business development company (“BDC”) we review in this report is attractive to many income-focused investors (the current yield is 9.6%, paid quarterly). However, the entire BDC industry is facing growing challenges as the benefits of rising interest rates are increasingly offset by the challenges (portfolio company defaults) caused by an economy headed towards recession. In this report, we review the company (including an overview of the business, the current market dynamics, dividend strength, valuation and risks) and then conclude with our opinion on investing.
Fed Rate Hikes To Impact Top Big-Dividend BDCs
With the Fed set to raise interest rates another 75 basis points on Wednesday (following its 2-day open market committee meeting which kicks off today), it’s worthwhile to revisit big-dividend BDC and how they are impacted by rising rates. This note shares data on how many of the most popular publicly-traded BDCs are impacted differently by rising rates depending on the structure of their balance sheets (floating-versus-fixed-rate assets and liabilities, as well as leverage levels). We also highlight a few of our favorite BDCs (two we own and one we are considering) that yield 9.1%, 10.0% and 10.2%, respectively.
Attractive Big-Dividend BDC: 7.9% Yield
In addition to the healthy 7.9% dividend yield, there are lots of things to like about this attractive business development company (“BDC”), including its low exposure to cyclical industries, its impressive portfolio quality, extensive industry relationships and its conservative balance sheet, to name just a few. In this report, we review the business model, portfolio characteristics, strategies and advantages, portfolio performance, dividend yield and safety, financial position, risks and finally conclude with our opinion on the stock’s risk-reward opportunity at the current valuation.