5 Big Dividend Yields With Ex-Dividend Dates Coming Up Fast

Income investors have a narrow window to get on the books for the next round of payments from a group of high-yield names. Five tickers on our watchlist have confirmed ex-dividend dates of September 30 or October 1, 2026, meaning the last trading day to buy and still capture the upcoming distribution is one business day earlier. The share price typically drops by roughly the dividend amount on the ex-date, so the transaction largely transfers a payment already owed to shareholders.

How the mechanics work: to receive the next dividend, you must own shares before the ex-dividend date. Buy on or after the ex-date and the seller keeps the payment. Once the ex-date passes, the payment is gone for that cycle.

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ: AGNC)

AGNC Investment (NASDAQ:AGNC | AGNC Price Prediction), the agency mortgage REIT, carries a 14.5% dividend yield at roughly $10.01 per share. The board declared a $0.12 monthly common dividend on September 9, 2026, with an ex-dividend date of September 30, 2026 and a payment date of October 9, 2026. Buy-by deadline: the trading day before September 30.

The right yardsticks for a mortgage REIT are economic return and net spread plus dollar roll income. Q2 2026 economic return on tangible common equity was 6.7%, tangible book value rose to $8.58 per share, and net spread plus dollar roll income covered the $0.36 quarterly payout (three $0.12 monthlies). Q1 2026 was weaker with a negative 1.6% economic return, but core spread and roll income of $0.42 still covered the payout. Risk: the stock is down 7.55% over the past month, and Agency MBS spreads remain the swing factor for book value.

Carlyle Secured Lending (NASDAQ: CGBD)

Carlyle Secured Lending (NASDAQ:CGBD), a middle-market BDC, yields 13.6% at $11.39 per share. The $0.35 quarterly dividend goes ex-dividend on September 30, 2026, with payment on October 16, 2026. Buy-by deadline: the trading day before September 30.

For a BDC, the correct base is net investment income. Adjusted NII of $0.35 per share in Q2 2026 exactly covers the $0.35 base dividend, with an estimated $0.73 of spillover for cushion and non-accruals at just 0.6% of fair value. NAV slipped to $15.61 from $15.89, and the base dividend was reset earlier this year from $0.40 to $0.35, a candid signal that earnings power is tighter. Risk: 100% coverage leaves no margin if credit softens or spreads compress further.

Crescent Capital BDC (NASDAQ: CCAP)

Crescent Capital BDC (NASDAQ:CCAP) is the highest-yielding name on the list at 16.3%, though the price is doing most of that work: shares sit at $9.88, down 24.57% year to date and 27.32% over the past year. The regular $0.34 quarterly dividend goes ex on September 30, 2026, payable October 15, 2026. A separate special dividend already went ex on August 31, so that one is not in play. Buy-by deadline for the regular: the trading day before September 30.

Q2 2026 adjusted NII of $0.36 per share sits just above the $0.34 regular payout, and the regular dividend was cut from $0.42 to $0.34 as base rates fell. NAV declined to $17.82 from $19.55 a year earlier, and Q2 net realized losses were $17.7 million, with 98.4% of debt investments at floating rates. Risk: coverage is thin and rate exposure is one-directional. Treat this as the fragile pick of the group, and the setup that tends to precede another trim (we cataloged the seven warning signs that a big yield is about to be cut in a free report you can grab here).

AGNC 7.00% Series C Preferred (NASDAQ: AGNCN)

The AGNC Series C Fixed-to-Floating Preferred (NASDAQ:AGNCN) offers a floating-rate coupon on top of the same issuer’s balance sheet. The next quarterly distribution of $0.58557 per share was declared September 9, 2026, with an ex-dividend date of October 1, 2026 and payment on October 15, 2026. That amount is up from $0.57204 the prior quarter. Shares last traded at $25.80, near par. Buy-by deadline: the trading day before October 1.

Preferred dividends sit senior to the common. AGNC’s Q2 2026 economic return of 6.7% on tangible common equity provides ample cushion for preferred coupons, and even Q1’s negative 1.6% economic return left preferreds well covered given seniority in the capital stack. Risk: the floating coupon has room to reset lower if short rates fall further.

Wintrust 7.875% Fixed-Rate Reset Preferred (NASDAQ: WTFCN)

The Wintrust Financial 7.875% Fixed-Rate Reset Non-Cumulative Perpetual Preferred (NASDAQ:WTFCN) pays $0.49219 per share quarterly, with an ex-dividend date of October 1, 2026 and payment on October 15, 2026. Shares closed at $26.10, a modest premium to par. Buy-by deadline: the trading day before October 1.

Wintrust posted its sixth consecutive record quarterly net income at $233.7 million in Q2 2026, with diluted EPS of $3.30, a 3.52% net interest margin, net charge-offs of just 10 basis points, and $74.7 billion in total assets. Preferred coupons are comfortably covered by earnings. Risk: as a non-cumulative perpetual, missed dividends are gone rather than accrued, though nothing in current results suggests that scenario.

Bottom Line

The arithmetic of an ex-date price adjustment means the transfer is roughly a wash on day one. What matters more is whether the underlying payer can keep making the distribution. Three of these names (AGNC, CGBD, CCAP) go ex-dividend on September 30; the two preferreds go ex on October 1. Miss those dates and the next payment goes to the seller.

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