Investment company dividend payout ratios
4 companies, computed from their own SEC filings. 1 of them answer differently by 20 points or more depending on which basis you divide by.
What ordinary looks like here
On the basis each company’s own filings make applicable, the median investment company pays out 96.5%. Half sit between 95.4% and 96.5%. Across all 532 companies here the median is 41.9% — 54.6 points more than the site as a whole.
Which basis applies, and to how many
Not a choice — it is what each company’s filings support.
Where the bases disagree most
The same dividend, a different answer. These are the widest gaps in investment company.
- Oaktree Specialty Lending (OCSL) 344.9 pts
Lowest payout
- Ares Capital 92.0%
- Hercules Capital 95.4%
- Oaktree Specialty Lending 96.5%
- Main Street Capital 103.1%
Highest payout
- Main Street Capital 103.1%
- Oaktree Specialty Lending 96.5%
- Hercules Capital 95.4%
- Ares Capital 92.0%
Common questions
What is a good dividend payout ratio for a investment company?
Measured on the basis its own filings support, the median here is 96.5%, with half between 95.4% and 96.5%. That is the empirical answer for this sector rather than a rule of thumb, and it is the only comparison that means anything — a figure that is ordinary in one sector is stretched in another.
Which measure should a investment company be judged on?
4 of the 4 measured here are read on net investment income, because that is what their filings support. Each company’s page shows every basis it can be measured on and marks the one that applies.
Where do these numbers come from?
Each company’s own annual filing, read out of SEC XBRL. Every page names the accession number its figures came from and links it to EDGAR, so any figure here can be checked against the source.
All 4 companies
What a dividend payout ratio measures, and why one threshold does not fit every sector.