Does This "Old Friend" Still Deserve an "A" Grade?

Find out in this week's Safety Net! [Shield] AN OXFORD CLUB PUBLICATION [Wealthy Retirement]( [View in browser]( SPONSORED [Yours Free! Top FIVE Dividend Stocks Right Now]( Marc Lichtenfeld - income expert and author of Get Rich with Dividends - is giving away his Ultimate Dividend Package... completely free of charge! You'll discover... - An "A"-rated, ultra-safe dividend stock with a huge 8% yield - Three of Marc's favorite "Extreme Dividend" stocks, which could supercharge your income - And finally, Marc's No. 1 dividend stock for a LIFETIME of income. [Click here to get the names and ticker symbols now](... before the download link expires. **NO CREDIT CARD REQUIRED!** [SAFETY NET]( [Does This "Old Friend" Still Deserve an "A" Grade?]( [John Oravec, Research Analyst, The Oxford Club]( [John Oravec]( Ladies and gentlemen, I am happy to announce that it's that time of year again! That's right. It's time to play one of our favorite games here at Safety Net... Is Ares Capital's Dividend Still Safe? Ares Capital (Nasdaq: ARCC) is a business development company (BDC) that Chief Income Strategist Marc Lichtenfeld has reviewed in each of the past two years - first in [March 2022]( and again [last August](. At this point, I say we make it a tradition to review Ares yearly, as it's one of our most popular requests - and it seems to be the gift that keeps on giving. In 2022, the stock had an attractive yield of 8.7%, and Marc gave it a "B" for dividend safety. In 2023, the yield reached double digits, and he bumped his grade up to an "A." Ares currently pays a quarterly dividend of $0.48, which comes out to a very nice 9.3% annual yield. Let's see whether it still deserves that lofty "A" grade this year. SPONSORED [Biggest Investors in the World LOADING UP on This AI Stock]( [Alexander Green #1 AI Stock]( It's a small cap that trades for less than $10... Yet the biggest investors in the world own millions of shares. Why? Because their AI just did something no company has ever done before. [Details here.]( Before we dig into the numbers, though, it's important to remember that when we evaluate BDCs, our parameters are slightly different from the ones we use for normal stocks. The biggest difference is that we look at net investment income (NII) instead of free cash flow. Net investment income is the amount of money a company makes from its investments, while free cash flow is the amount of money a company has left over after paying its expenses. We use NII for BDCs because they are purely in the business of investing in other companies, so we need to know whether their investments are actually paying off and growing. The second major difference is that when we evaluate a BDC, our threshold for the company's payout ratio is 100% instead of the usual 75%. We give BDCs this extra leeway because they, like real estate investment trusts (REITs), are [required to pay out 90% of their income to investors](. Now that we've established those differences, let's see how Ares Capital stacks up. Our first step is to look at the company's NII. And I must say, it's looking pretty good. From 2020 to last year, Ares saw 60% growth in its NII. And Wall Street analysts expect NII to jump from $1.27 billion last year to $1.45 billion this year, an additional 16.5% increase. [Chart: NII Has Surged Over the Past 4 Years]( [View larger image]( So clearly, the company's cash flow growth is strong... But we still must consider the all-important payout ratio and the actual dividends paid out to investors. [Can Ares Capital Still Afford Its Dividend?]( [2024 Private Wealth Seminar at the Wequassett Resort & Golf Club in Harwich, Massachusetts on October 7-8, 2024]( BUILD AND PROTECT YOUR WEALTH [Wall Street PROJECTS $30 Energy Stock Will Rise to $280 in 18 Months!]( [The Downside to a "Participation Trophy" Economy]( [Expert Predicts Gold, Oil, Copper About to Soar Higher... Discover Why We're in a New Commodities Supercycle Right Here.]( [It Pays to Listen to Insiders]( MORE FROM WEALTHY RETIREMENT [Article]( [Does Ares Capital Still Deserve an "A" Grade?]( [Article]( [The Simplest Way to Build Your Wealth]( [Article]( [The "Crown Jewel" of Market Catalysts]( [Article]( [Nvidia Could Still Have More Room to Run]( [Facebook]( [Facebook]( [LinkedIn logo]( [LinkedIn]( [Email Share](mailto:?subject=A%20great%20piece%20from%20Wealthy%20Retirement...&body=From%20Wealthy%20Retirement:%0D%0A%0D%0AThis 9.3%25 yielder is one of the most commonly requested stocks for Safety Net. Does it still deserve an %22A%22 grade?%0D%0A%0D [Email Share](mailto:?subject=A%20great%20piece%20from%20Wealthy%20Retirement...&body=From%20Wealthy%20Retirement:%0D%0A%0D%0AThis 9.3%25 yielder is one of the most commonly requested stocks for Safety Net. Does it still deserve an %22A%22 grade?%0D%0A%0D [Push Alert]( [Push Alert]( SPONSORED ["RECORD OIL IN 2024!" - Marc Lichtenfeld]( [AI trading analysis.]( The same expert who predicted inflation would exceed 8%... The same expert who said oil and gas stocks would be a bright spot in the market just before energy became the best-performing sector of 2022... And THE SAME EXPERT who predicted oil would double to $140 in 2022 before it hit $139.13 (so close!)... Now he's making his boldest prediction yet. [GO HERE for details on his favorite way to play the surprise rally.]( [The Oxford Club]( You are receiving this email because you subscribed to Wealthy Retirement. Wealthy Retirement is published by The Oxford Club. Questions? Check out our [FAQs](. Trying to reach us? [Contact us here.]( Please do not reply to this email as it goes to an unmonitored inbox. 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