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Investmentstocks

Dividend Yield Calculator

Dividend yield at the current price and on your own cost. The two diverge as soon as the price moves, and confusing them is why a long-held holding can look low-yielding when it is not.

Also called: dividend calculator, yield on cost.

Dividend yield
4%

4% at the current price of 500. On what you actually paid it is 8%, which is the figure that matters to you rather than to a new buyer.

Yield on your cost
8%
Annual dividend income
$2,000.00
Per quarter
$500.00
Years of dividends to recover your cost
12.5
How this is calculated

An estimate, not an offer or a guarantee. Projected returns assume the rate you entered holds for the whole term, which no market does.

Method and background

This is what the calculation gives for the numbers you entered. It is an estimate, not advice, and it knows nothing about your situation beyond those numbers. Rules for United States change on a published schedule; the effective date is shown on every rule-based tool.

How this is calculated

Yield is the annual dividend divided by the price. Which price is the whole question. The published yield uses the current price and tells a prospective buyer what they would get. Yield on cost uses what you paid and tells you what your own money is earning, which on a holding bought years ago at half the price is double the headline figure.

yield = annual dividend per share / price; yield on cost uses what you paid instead
D
Annual dividend per share (currency)
P
Current share price (currency)

Worked examples

Each of these is asserted on every build. If a change to the engine ever moved one of these answers, the build would fail before the page could print it.

four percent at the current price

Share price
500
Annual dividend per share
20
Shares held
100
What you paid per share
250

Dividend yield4%

Bought at half the price, so yield on cost is double the headline

Open this example

no dividend is no yield

Share price
500
Annual dividend per share
0
Shares held
100
What you paid per share
500

Dividend yield0%

degenerate case

Open this example

Method and limits

What it assumes

  • The dividend is assumed to continue at the stated annual rate.

What it deliberately does not model

  • A high yield is often a falling price rather than a generous payout, and this cannot tell the two apart.
  • Dividend tax treatment varies by market and is not applied.

Formula version 1.0.0 · definition 1.0.0 · United States · Report a problem with this calculator

Frequently asked questions

Which yield should I quote?
The current-price one when comparing investments, because that is what a new rupee buys. Yield on cost only describes your own history and cannot be used to compare anything.
Is a very high yield a good sign?
Usually not. Yield rises when the price falls, so an unusually high figure is often the market pricing in a cut rather than a bargain.