Ares Capital Corporation reported third quarter 2026 results on Tuesday and declared a fourth quarter dividend of $0.48 per share, payable December 29, 2026 to stockholders of record on December 15, 2026. GAAP net income was $319 million, or $0.44 per share, down from $404 million, or $0.57 per share, a year earlier, as net realized losses of $52 million replaced the prior year’s gains. Core earnings were $0.46 per share, against $0.50 a year earlier, and net investment income was $328 million, or $0.46 per share.
The portfolio held 636 investments with a fair value of $29.2 billion at September 30, 2026, against $29.5 billion at the end of 2025. Net asset value per share was $19.31, down from $19.94 at year end, stockholders’ equity was $13.9 billion, and the debt to equity ratio was 1.11 times. Loans on non-accrual status represented 1.4 percent of the portfolio at fair value. First lien senior secured loans were 58 percent of the portfolio at fair value, and the weighted average yield on debt and other income producing securities was 10.8 percent at fair value.
New investment commitments slowed to about $2.1 billion in the quarter, of which about $1.6 billion was funded, against exits of about $2.5 billion, including about $1.2 billion of loans sold to Ivy Hill Asset Management vehicles. Management said the investment backlog had risen meaningfully from the prior quarter, to about $2.5 billion as of October 22, 2026, with stronger transaction activity entering the fourth quarter. The company held $722 million of cash, had $15.5 billion of debt principal outstanding and about $6.9 billion available under its credit facilities, and in September issued $750 million of seven year unsecured notes at 6.250 percent.
The results were filed the same morning as the company’s agreement to acquire MidCap Financial Investment Corporation, and management cited the expected benefit of that acquisition in support of the current dividend level.