HomeCompareVMLTX vs ARCC

VMLTX vs ARCC: Dividend Comparison 2026

VMLTX yields 3.05% · ARCC yields 10.82%● Live data

vsPost on X →
After 10 years · $10,000 invested · DRIP enabled
🏆 ARCC wins by $219.00 in total portfolio value
10 years
VMLTX
VMLTX
● Live price
3.05%
Share price
$10.93
Annual div
$0.33
5Y div CAGR
0%
Payout ratio
50%
After 10 yrs · $10,000 · DRIP
Portfolio value
$24.3K
Annual income
$371.73
Full VMLTX 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 — VMLTX vs ARCC

📍 ARCC 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 PeriodVMLTXARCC
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, VMLTX + ARCC cover 0 of 12 monthsgood coverage

Jan
Feb
Mar
Apr
May
Jun
Jul
Aug
Sep
Oct
Nov
Dec
VMLTX pays
ARCC pays
Both pay
Neither
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Tax Bracket Optimizer

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

VMLTX
Annual income on $10K today (after 15% tax)
$259.55/yr
After 10yr DRIP, annual income (after tax)
$315.97/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, VMLTX beats the other by $314.98/year in after-tax income after 10 years on $10,000
⚖️

Lazy Portfolio Split Optimizer

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

VMLTX: 50%ARCC: 50%
100% ARCC50/50100% VMLTX
Portfolio after 10yr
$24.4K
Annual income
$186.45/yr
Blended yield
0.76%
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Analyst Conviction Gap

Where Wall Street is most bullish on ARCC right now

VMLTX
No analyst data
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)

VMLTX buys
0
ARCC buys
0
No recent congressional trades found for VMLTX or ARCC in the last 90 days.
STOCK Act mandates disclosure within 45 days of transaction. Data via FMP.Full tracker →
MetricVMLTXARCC
Forward yield3.05%10.82%
Annual dividend / share$0.33$1.92
Payout ratio50%50%
1-year div growth0%0%
5-year div CAGR0%-50%
Portfolio after 10y$24.3K$24.5K
Annual income after 10y$371.73$1.16
Total dividends collected$3.4K$1.1K
Payment frequencyquarterlyquarterly
SectorStockBDC

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

YearVMLTX PortfolioVMLTX Income/yrARCC PortfolioARCC Income/yrGap
1← crossover$11,005$305.35$11,381$541.15$376.00ARCC
2$12,090$314.07$12,621$284.08$531.00ARCC
3$13,259$322.44$13,827$145.31$568.00ARCC
4$14,517$330.48$15,062$73.43$545.00ARCC
5$15,871$338.18$16,364$36.89$493.00ARCC
6$17,328$345.54$17,757$18.49$429.00ARCC
7$18,894$352.57$19,258$9.25$364.00ARCC
8$20,575$359.28$20,880$4.63$305.00ARCC
9$22,381$365.66$22,636$2.32$255.00ARCC
10$24,320$371.73$24,539$1.16$219.00ARCC

VMLTX vs ARCC: Complete Analysis 2026

VMLTXStock

This low-cost municipal bond fund seeks to provide income exempt from federal taxes and typically appeals to investors in higher tax brackets. The fund holds high-quality short-term municipal bonds with an average duration of approximately 2 years, a bit longer than the Short-Term Tax-Exempt Fund. Risks of the fund include the fact that changes in interest rates, both up and down, can affect the fund by resulting in lower bond prices or an eventual decrease in income for the fund. Investors who are looking for a modest level of federal tax-exempt interest income and can tolerate some income and share price risk may wish to consider this fund.

Full VMLTX Calculator →

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.