MAIN

Main Street Capital

Investment company · fiscal year ending 2025-12-31

Through the investors’ lenses

Each of these investors has said in public what they look at before buying. Click a name to see how this company measures up — a tick where it passes one of their tests, a cross where it does not.

Warren Buffett 1/2

Measure	MAIN	Checked against
Owner earnings	—	positive	—
Return on equity	16.5%	median 11.7%	✓
Debt to equity	0.82x	median 0.79x	✗
Operating margin	—	median 15.0%	—

Passes 1 of 2. To be clear: Warren Buffett has never said anything about Main Street Capital. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →

Terry Smith 0/1

Measure	MAIN	Checked against
Return on capital employed	—	median 10.1%	—
Cash conversion	—	median 1.78x	—
Operating margin	—	median 15.0%	—
Debt to equity	0.82x	median 0.79x	✗

Passes 0 of 1. To be clear: Terry Smith has never said anything about Main Street Capital. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →

Charlie Munger 1/1

Measure	MAIN	Checked against
Return on capital employed	—	median 10.1%	—
Return on equity	16.5%	median 11.7%	✓
Operating margin	—	median 15.0%	—

Passes 1 of 1. To be clear: Charlie Munger has never said anything about Main Street Capital. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →

Chuck Akre 1/2

Measure	MAIN	Checked against
Return on equity	16.5%	median 11.7%	✓
Debt to equity	0.82x	median 0.79x	✗
Cash conversion	—	median 1.78x	—

Passes 1 of 2. To be clear: Chuck Akre has never said anything about Main Street Capital. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →

Walter Schloss 0/1

Measure	MAIN	Checked against
Current ratio	—	median 1.25x	—
Debt to equity	0.82x	median 0.79x	✗

Passes 0 of 1. To be clear: Walter Schloss has never said anything about Main Street Capital. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →

Peter Lynch 0/1

Measure	MAIN	Checked against
Debt to equity	0.82x	median 0.79x	✗
Net margin	—	median 10.2%	—

Passes 0 of 1. To be clear: Peter Lynch has never said anything about Main Street Capital. These are the company’s own figures put through the tests he described. What he looks at, and why →

Basis	Payout	Why
GAAP earnings	107.1%	why Moves with credit-spread marks, not distributable income.
Net investment income	103.1%	why What actually funds a BDC distribution.

4 points between highest and lowest basis.

Coverage rating 39 / 100 — Strained. ? Peer standing · not ranked Direction 10/30Stability 19/20 Capped because the dividend exceeds what the basis that applies can fund.

Net investment income payout, last 6 years

Fiscal year	Payout
2025-12-31	103.1%
2024-12-31	100.5%
2023-12-31	89.3%
2022-12-31	78.8%
2021-12-31	93.4%
2020-12-31	104.7%

Coverage has deteriorated three years running — 78.8% to 103.1% — and the dividend now exceeds what the basis that applies can fund.

The arithmetic

GAAP earnings — dividends declared per share $4.23 ÷ diluted EPS $3.95

Where the figures came from

10-K filed 2026-02-27 · accession 0001396440-26-000016

All public at sec.gov — you should not have to take our word for it.

Computed straight from SEC XBRL. A number that looks wrong to you is more useful to us than agreement — tell us.

What the net investment income payout ratio measures, and where every company here sits on it.

Also on: rated strained · when it files.

When this changes

Every figure above is recomputed whenever Main Street Capital files. The monthly letter carries what filed, what moved, and one finding computed across every company here.

Get the letter →