4 Big Dividends With Ex-Dates Days Away: Buy Before the Window Closes

Four income names have their next dividend on the calendar, and the first deadline is today. WD-40 Company (NASDAQ:WDFC | WDFC Price Prediction) goes ex-dividend on October 19. Gladstone Capital (NASDAQ:GLAD), Gladstone Commercial (NASDAQ:GOOD) and ArrowMark Financial (NASDAQ:BANX) follow on October 23. All four list the same payment date: October 30.

How the timing works: you must own the shares before the ex-dividend date to receive the upcoming payment. If you buy on the ex-date or later, the seller keeps that check and the pay date is just the day the cash shows up in your account.

WD-40 Company (WDFC): Today Is the Last Day to Buy

WD-40 pays $1.02 per share each quarter, or $4.08 a year. At the previous close of $201.08 , that’s a yield of about 2.03%. The ex-date is Monday, October 19, and the payment date is October 30. Since the ex-date lands on a Monday, the last trading day to buy and qualify is today, Friday, October 16.

WD-40 also stands apart from the rest of this list. It’s an operating consumer products company that sells maintenance and cleaning products. The other three are income vehicles built to pass cash through to shareholders.

For a corporation, coverage is measured against earnings. Management’s fiscal 2026 non-GAAP diluted EPS guidance of $6.05 to $6.35 sets the payout ratio at about 64% to 67%. In the fiscal third quarter, adjusted diluted EPS came in at $2.33, ahead of the $1.56 estimate. Revenue rose 24.4% to $195.12 million, with gross margin at 56.6%. The quarterly dividend has climbed from $0.88 in 2024 to $0.94 in 2025 and $1.02 in 2026. On September 1, the board also authorized a new $100 million buyback. The shares are up 3.55% year to date. The yield comes from regular payouts, not a falling share price.

Gladstone Capital (GLAD): Monthly BDC Income With a Thin Cushion

Gladstone Capital pays $0.15 a month, or $1.80 a year. At $19.33, that’s a yield of about 9.31%. The ex-date is Friday, October 23, so shares need to be bought by the close on Thursday, October 22. Cash goes out on October 30. Distributions of $0.15 are also on the books for the final two months of the year.

For a business development company (BDC), the key metric is net investment income (NII). Fiscal third-quarter NII was $0.49 per share, compared with $0.45 paid out over the quarter. That’s a payout ratio of about 92%: the distribution is covered, but with little room to spare. Non-earning investments make up 3.1% of debt investments at fair value, which is slightly high.

The portfolio’s weighted average yield is 11.8%. On liquidity, Gladstone Capital has more than $170 million available on its bank line and recently issued $60 million of 7% notes. The monthly payout was cut from $0.165 to $0.15 starting in October 2025. Shares are up 8.63% over the past year, so the yield isn’t being driven by a declining share price.

Gladstone Commercial (GOOD): A Steady Monthly Dime and One Flattering Quarter

Gladstone Commercial pays $0.10 a month, or $1.20 a year. At $12.80, that’s a yield of about 9.38%. It shares the ex-date of October 23 and the payment date of October 30, so the buy-by deadline is also Thursday’s close.

For a REIT, coverage is measured against funds from operations (FFO). Second-quarter adjusted Core FFO was $0.38 per diluted share, against $0.30 in quarterly distributions. That works out to a payout ratio of about 79%. The quarter got a one-time boost.

The catch is that it came from a lease termination fee, so core coverage is lower than that figure suggests. The portfolio itself looks solid: 98.7% leased across 151 properties, with 100% of cash rent collected through July 2026. Preferred shareholders also get paid ahead of common holders.

This distribution was reduced in the past. The monthly rate dropped from $0.1254 in 2022 to $0.10 in 2023 and hasn’t changed since. Shares have risen 29.09% year to date, so the yield is still high even after a rally.

ArrowMark Financial (BANX): Coverage Is the Open Question

ArrowMark Financial pays $0.15 a month, or $1.80 a year. At $20.02, that’s a yield of about 8.99%. The ex-date is October 23 and the payment date is October 30. The closed-end fund invests in term loans, structured debt, regulatory capital relief securities and to a lesser extent equity. That makes its credit risk linked to banks.

Net investment income is the right coverage test here, but no current NII figure is available to check against the distribution. That makes this the least-verified quality read on the list. The distribution has also moved around: $0.65 in December 2024, $0.55 in March 2025, $0.45 in June and September 2025, then monthly payments of $0.15 through 2026. The trailing 12-month total of $2.30 includes larger year-end payouts and runs above the current rate. Shares are down 3.62% over the past month and 1.46% year to date. Before relying on this payout, check NII in the fund’s latest shareholder report.

What Happens After the Deadline Passes

Buying a stock just to collect one payment doesn’t work as a strategy, because share prices typically drop by about the dividend on the ex-date. Buy on or after the ex-date, and the October payment is off the table. For income investors, the next numbers that matter are Gladstone Capital’s NII and Gladstone Commercial’s FFO once the one-time fee is stripped out. Both will show whether the monthly payouts can hold at current levels.

If you want a larger pool of monthly payers to work from, we rounded up seven of our favorites here: The 7 Monthly Dividend Stocks That Pay You Every 30 Days.

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