American Capital Strategies: A "Near Perfect" Growth Investment

American Capital Strategies (ACAS), which is currently trading around $41-42 a share, pays an enormous dividend of $3.68. This equals out to an approximate yield of 9%. More importantly, ACAS as a company has never decreased its dividend since its IPO in 1997.

Furthermore, the company has raised its quaterly dividend 37 times according to Yahoo Finance. According to the company, $10,000 invested in 1997 in the Company's stock would be worth $69,584 today. That figures to a cumulative gain of 595.8 percent. What's more is that according to its CEO, who addressed this topic considerably in the most recent quarterly presentation, the company has an above average credit rating compared to its peers and very little exposure to the subprime fiasco.

ACAS's success has even landed it a place on the S&P 500, a feat no other alternative asset manager has achieved. However, the company's share price has dropped recently because of worries about the subprime mess, the very trouble that ACAS has advoided. For investors, this presents a near perfect opportunity for high growth and significant income.

Disclosure: I own shares of ACAS and have recently added significantly to my holdings.

ACAS 1-yr chart: