HomeCompareSTER vs ARCC

STER vs ARCC: Dividend Comparison 2026

STER yields 11.95% · ARCC yields 10.82%● Live data

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After 10 years · $10,000 invested · DRIP enabled
🏆 STER wins by $19.4K in total portfolio value
10 years
STER
STER
● Live price
11.95%
Share price
$16.74
Annual div
$2.00
5Y div CAGR
0%
Payout ratio
50%
After 10 yrs · $10,000 · DRIP
Portfolio value
$44.0K
Annual income
$2,518.42
Full STER calculator →
ARCC
Ares Capital Corporation
● Live price
10.82%
Share price
$17.74
Annual div
$1.92
5Y div CAGR
-50%
Payout ratio
50%
After 10 yrs · $10,000 · DRIP
Portfolio value
$24.5K
Annual income
$1.16
Full ARCC calculator →

Portfolio growth — STER vs ARCC

📍 STER pulled ahead of the other in Year 1

Annual dividend income

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Recession Test — Did They Cut Dividends?

How each stock treated shareholders during the 3 biggest crises of the last 20 years

Crisis PeriodSTERARCC
2008–2009
GFC
— No data— No data
2020 Q1–Q2
COVID
— No data— No data
2022 Q4
Rate Hike
— No data— No data
Based on dividend payment history. "Increased" = dividend grew during crisis. "Maintained" = held within 3%. "Cut" = reduced by more than 3%.
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Dividend Calendar Overlap

Combined, STER + ARCC cover 0 of 12 monthsgood coverage

Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
STER pays
ARCC pays
Both pay
Neither
💰

Tax Bracket Optimizer

Which stock is actually better after tax? Adjust your rate to find out.

STER
Annual income on $10K today (after 15% tax)
$1,015.53/yr
After 10yr DRIP, annual income (after tax)
$2,140.66/yr
ARCC
Annual income on $10K today (after 15% tax)
$919.95/yr
After 10yr DRIP, annual income (after tax)
$0.99/yr
At 15% tax rate, STER beats the other by $2,139.67/year in after-tax income after 10 years on $10,000
⚖️

Lazy Portfolio Split Optimizer

What's the optimal mix of STER + ARCC for your $10,000?

STER: 50%ARCC: 50%
100% ARCC50/50100% STER
Portfolio after 10yr
$34.3K
Annual income
$1,259.79/yr
Blended yield
3.68%
📊

Analyst Conviction Gap

Where Wall Street is most bullish on ARCC right now

STER
Analyst Ratings
2
Buy
9
Hold
Consensus: Hold
Price Target
$26.00
+55.3% upside vs current
Range: $23.00 — $29.00
Altman Z
1.8
Piotroski
2/9
ARCC
Analyst Ratings
24
Buy
7
Hold
Consensus: Buy
Price Target
$21.88
+23.3% upside vs current
Range: $21.00 — $23.00
Altman Z
0.8
Piotroski
4/9
Analyst ratings via FMP. Altman Z-Score: >3.0 safe, 1.81–3.0 grey zone, <1.81 distress. Piotroski: 7–9 strong, 0–3 weak.
🏛️

Copy Congress — What Are Politicians Buying?

Senate & House STOCK Act disclosures (last 90 days)

STER buys
0
ARCC buys
0
No recent congressional trades found for STER or ARCC in the last 90 days.
STOCK Act mandates disclosure within 45 days of transaction. Data via FMP.Full tracker →
MetricSTERARCC
Forward yield11.95%10.82%
Annual dividend / share$2.00$1.92
Payout ratio50%50%
1-year div growth0%0%
5-year div CAGR0%-50%
Portfolio after 10y$44.0K$24.5K
Annual income after 10y$2,518.42$1.16
Total dividends collected$18.4K$1.1K
Payment frequencyquarterlyquarterly
SectorStockBDC
Analyst consensusHoldBuy
Analyst price target$26.00$21.88

Year-by-year: STER vs ARCC ($10,000, DRIP)

YearSTER PortfolioSTER Income/yrARCC PortfolioARCC Income/yrGap
1← crossover$11,895$1,194.74$11,381$541.15+$514.00STER
2$14,056$1,328.15$12,621$284.08+$1.4KSTER
3$16,506$1,466.74$13,827$145.31+$2.7KSTER
4$19,271$1,609.79$15,062$73.43+$4.2KSTER
5$22,377$1,756.52$16,364$36.89+$6.0KSTER
6$25,849$1,906.14$17,757$18.49+$8.1KSTER
7$29,717$2,057.89$19,258$9.25+$10.5KSTER
8$34,008$2,211.00$20,880$4.63+$13.1KSTER
9$38,753$2,364.75$22,636$2.32+$16.1KSTER
10$43,984$2,518.42$24,539$1.16+$19.4KSTER

STER vs ARCC: Complete Analysis 2026

STERStock

Sterling Check Corp. provides technology-enabled background and identity verification services in the United States, Canada, Europe, the Middle East and Africa, and the Asia Pacific. The company offers identity verification services, such as telecom and device verification, identification document verification, facial recognition with biometric matching, social security number verification, and live video chat identification proofing; fingerprinting; background checks, including criminal record checks, sex offender registries, civil court records, motor vehicle and driving license records, executive investigations, credit reports, social media searches, and contingent workforce solutions; liens, judgments, and bankruptcies; and sanctions, risk, and compliance checks. It also provides credential verification services, which include employment verification, education verification, credential verification, professional reference checks, and department of transportation; drug and health screening; onboarding solutions, including Sterling I-9 that integrates a suite of screening and onboarding services and onboarding forms; and workforce, medical license, and motor vehicle records monitoring solutions. The company's services are delivered through its cloud-based technology platform that empowers organizations with real-time and data-driven insights to conduct and manage their employment screening programs. It serves a client base in a range of industries, such as healthcare, gig economy, financial and business services, industrials, retail, contingent, technology, media and entertainment, transportation and logistics, hospitality, education, and government. The company was formerly known as Sterling Ultimate Parent Corp. and changed its name to Sterling Check Corp. in August 2021. Sterling Check Corp. was founded in 1975 and is headquartered in New York, New York.

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ARCCBDC

Ares Capital Corporation is a business development company specializing in acquisition, recapitalization, mezzanine debt, restructurings, rescue financing, and leveraged buyout transactions of middle market companies. It also makes growth capital and general refinancing. It prefers to make investments in companies engaged in the basic and growth manufacturing, business services, consumer products, health care products and services, and information technology service sectors. The fund will also consider investments in industries such as restaurants, retail, oil and gas, and technology sectors. It focuses on investments in Northeast, Mid-Atlantic, Southeast and Southwest regions from its New York office, the Midwest region, from the Chicago office, and the Western region from the Los Angeles office. The fund typically invests between $20 million and $200 million and a maximum of $400 million in companies with an EBITDA between $10 million and $250 million. It makes debt investments between $10 million and $100 million The fund invests through revolvers, first lien loans, warrants, unitranche structures, second lien loans, mezzanine debt, private high yield, junior capital, subordinated debt, and non-control preferred and common equity. The fund also selectively considers third-party-led senior and subordinated debt financings and opportunistically considers the purchase of stressed and discounted debt positions. The fund prefers to be an agent and/or lead the transactions in which it invests. The fund also seeks board representation in its portfolio companies.

Full ARCC Calculator →
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⚠️ Educational purposes only. Not financial advice. Congressional trades sourced from SEC STOCK Act filings via FMP. Past performance does not guarantee future results.