- By the record: the payment record opens December 14, 2020 and holds 69 checks; the trailing twelve months delivered $3.13 per share across 12 of them, versus $3.41 in the preceding year, down 8% — roughly 20% of the recent ~$15.89 share price. The single largest payment, $0.289, dates to November 2024.
- Pays: monthly — $0.2542 per share for July-September 2026, declared quarterly three months at a time.
- Paying since: 2020 — a 12-year term trust scheduled to dissolve around September 2032 (the board can extend up to 18 months, or offer to buy back all shares at NAV and convert to perpetual).
- The policy: a managed distribution under SEC exemptive order — 20% annualized of the trust's rolling 12-month average daily NAV, recalculated each quarter. The amount drifts as NAV drifts; recent resets were small mechanical decreases.
- What's in the check: about 90% return of capital in 2025; the most recent 19a-1 notice put the April-June 2026 payments at 89% ROC. The 20% rate far exceeds the portfolio's return, so NAV erodes by design.
- What it is: a go-anywhere BlackRock allocation trust (stocks, bonds, private investments) with a 1.25% management fee (~1.41% total) and essentially no borrowed leverage.
A discount-management program is active: if the average discount exceeds 10% over January-September 2026, the trust will tender for a portion of shares (the 2024 program triggered a 2.5% tender at 98% of NAV). Activist shareholder filings were active on BCAT during 2025, and a June 2026 shelf registration leaves room for future share offerings.
BCAT pays monthly. Each point below is one distribution since 2020 — a gently sloping line, because 20% of a slowly shrinking NAV is a slowly shrinking check.
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Each point is one payment; the line ends at the most recent payout. The table below totals them by year.
- Trailing 12 months: $3.13 per share across 12 payments — down 8% from $3.41 in the 12 months before. What a change like that does to your income →
- Current pace: recent payments annualize to $3.10 — 1% below the trailing figure. When those two disagree, the trailing yield is quoting the past. Live cut & raise board →
- Share price, same 12 months: up 6% (dividends excluded) — income and principal are one story. Erosion Index →
- Record: 69 payments over 6 years; the largest single payment was $0.289 (Nov 2024).
- Payment drops ≥20% below trend, last 24 months: none. Get one short email if that changes →
- Payment steadiness: the last 12 checks wobble ±1% around their median. Compare that against any fund →
Every figure above is computed from BCAT's actual payment record and share-price history as of the date shown — not copied from a fact sheet. Recomputed regularly; the chart above always shows the live data.
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| Recent Ex-Dividend Dates | Distribution / Share |
|---|
"Next expected" is estimated from BCAT's recent payment rhythm — the fund announces exact dates shortly before each payout, and the data feed can lag a few days. You must own shares before the ex-dividend date to receive that payout; the cash typically arrives days later. See every fund's upcoming date on the live dividend calendar.
A real total-return estimate, assuming every payout was reinvested — including what happened to the share price. Before taxes and fees. Past performance does not predict the future.
BCAT pays out 20% of its own value every year — roughly three times what a balanced portfolio earns — so most of each check is your capital returning, and the NAV declines on schedule. That's not a flaw the sponsor hides; it's the product: a high, predictable cash stream from a trust that plans to hand back whatever is left in 2032. The discount or premium you pay decides whether the math works in your favor.
Its twin ECAT runs the identical policy; ADX is the 8% version and CLM the 21% version with rights offerings. Track the return-of-capital effect with the Cost Basis Calculator.
| Year | Total Distributions / Share | Payments | Change vs Prior Year |
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Data source: Yahoo Finance. Figures are per share; the current year may be partial and figures should be verified against official sources.
Calculated from complete calendar years in the data above. Past results don't guarantee future payments.
When Is BCAT's Next Ex-Dividend Date?
BCAT pays monthly. The exact date of each payout is announced by the fund only shortly beforehand, so no site can promise the next date — but the live schedule box above shows the most recent ex-dividend date and the expected window for the next one, computed from BCAT's actual payment rhythm. Remember: you must own shares before the ex-dividend date to receive that payout.
A Record Built to Wind Down
BCAT launched in 2020 as a twelve-year term trust and has paid monthly since. The chart above shows a distribution that drifts gently lower — because it's a fixed percentage of a NAV that the policy itself erodes — with small quarterly resets rather than dramatic cuts.
Twenty Percent, Explained
A balanced portfolio might earn 6-9% a year over time; this trust pays 20%. The difference is return of capital — the sponsor's notices classify roughly ninety cents of every dollar that way — which is why the structure only makes sense as a planned distribution of principal over a known horizon. Bought at a discount to NAV, that principal comes back at more than you paid for it; bought at a premium, the reverse.
Reading the Chart Honestly
Ignore the yield and watch two numbers: NAV and the discount. Judge BCAT on total return on NAV, and compare it with its twin ECAT and with ADX's gentler 8% on the compare tool. Next expected date on the live calendar.
Five numbers tell BCAT's story better than any pitch. The trust dissolves around September 2033, and every monthly check until then is set by formula. The current quarter pays $0.132 a share. Roughly ninety cents of each recent dollar was classified return of capital. And the tender trigger arms if the discount averages past 7.5% through September — which means the market price has a mechanical tether to NAV that ordinary funds lack.
Heavy Return-of-Capital Fund? Track Your Real Cost Basis
Distributions classified as return of capital lower your cost basis and change your tax bill when you sell. Our free calculator does the lot-by-lot math.
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