Fiends Charts

[starboy]

ACAS Chart below showing this one may be in recovery mode.
A couple of points of view in this article.
(Article from Motley Fool)

In search of Bigfoot
For a business development company to withhold paying a dividend, its situation must be dire, because the company will suffer certain (and stiff) tax consequences. But American Capital faced that situation last month, after mark-to-market accounting forced it to take $698 million in depreciation losses for the quarter. Stuck between retaining its dividend or possibly running afoul of its debt covenants, it took the necessary step of suspending its shareholder payments.

While that was a painful decision for the company (and investors, since the once-healthy dividend was a top reason for holding the stock), it might be a relatively short-lived event. Investments have been performing well, and net operating income has remained strong. More importantly, American Capital is trading below net asset value. With management intent on reinstating the dividend sometime in the near future, it could be an interesting time to stake a claim here.

Earlier this year, CAPS member griderX correctly called American Capital's dividend unsustainable, more recently questioning whether it can survive 2009.

Meanwhile, khrushchv thinks the situation is difficult, but if asset valuation stabilizes, this CAPS player thinks the portfolio's strong performce could lead to a reinstated dividend and rising shares:

[American Capital], like all RICs/BDCs, is in a tough spot in the current environment. On the one hand, their book value has declined by fairly large amounts (and their stock price has more than followed suit), the dividend has been suspended, and their debt covenants look like they might get triggered. On the other hand, the cash flows on their portfolios look good despite the fact that the market values have become severely impaired (in terms of trading prices), the company is hoarding cash to help stabilize their equity, is picking up ECAS in an all stock deal (which should decrease volatility in their book value), and insiders have been making fairly large open market purchases. This one is a tough call, but their portfolio appears to be performing fairly well...if their asset values stabilize I think [American Capital] will re-instate the dividend (perhaps at a lower level) and the stock price is likely to appreciate dramatically.