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Dividend Yield Calculator

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Use the same currency unit as the dividend.

Dividend

Your holding (optional)

Bought at several prices? Work out your average with the Stock Average Calculator.
What's withheld or taxed on your dividends. Rates depend on your country, account type and tax treaties, so there are no presets.
Use the same period as the dividend, e.g. trailing-12-month EPS with trailing dividends.

Targets (optional)

Negative for a cut, positive for a raise.

Dividend yield 4.00%

2.00 a year per share ÷ 50.00 price

200 shares pay 400.00 a year: 100.00 a quarter, 33.33 a month on average.

Your yield on cost is 5.00% (2.00 ÷ 40.00). Someone buying at 50.00 today gets 4.00%.

Yield on cost describes your history. What your money earns if you kept it here versus elsewhere is the 4.00% current yield.

Payout

Payout ratio 62.50% · dividend cover 1.60× · earnings yield 6.40%

Paid as dividends: 2.00 (62.50%)

Retained: 1.20 (37.50%)

Marker = 100% of earnings

6.40% earned, 62.50% of it paid out = 4.00%. REITs and some funds pay out most of their earnings by design, so a high payout ratio means something different for them.

Targets

For a 5.00% yield, buy at 40.00 or lower (20.00% below today's price).

For 500.00 a month (6,000.00 a year) at a 4.00% yield, invest 150,000.00: 3,000 shares at 50.00.

Yield vs price

At 50.00 the yield is 4.00%. If the price fell 20% to 40.00, the yield would rise to 5.00% with no change in the dividend. A yield that's high because the price has fallen is worth checking. The market may be expecting a cut.

Want to see what inflation does to that income? Use the Inflation Calculator. For interest on a deposit rather than dividends, try the APY Calculator.

About This Tool

Dividend Yield Calculator – Yield, Income and How It Grows

A dividend investor usually asks three questions in turn: what does this stock yield and what will it pay me?, what does my whole portfolio yield? and what will this income grow to if I reinvest it? This calculator answers all three from the share price and dividend you type in. Nothing is fetched, so it works for any share, ETF or fund in any currency.

The dividend yield formula

Dividend yield = annual dividend per share ÷ share price × 100

A stock at 50.00 that pays 0.50 a quarter pays 2.00 a year, a yield of 4.00%. Hold 200 shares and that is 400.00 a year: 100.00 each quarter, or 33.33 a month on average. With 3.20 of earnings per share the payout ratio is 2.00 ÷ 3.20 = 62.50%, and the dividend cover is 1.60×. The yield is also the earnings yield (6.40%) multiplied by the payout ratio.

Forward vs trailing yield, and special dividends

Trailing yield adds up what was actually paid over the last 12 months. Forward yield takes the latest regular payment and repeats it for a year. Quarterly payments of 0.48, 0.48, 0.50 and 0.50 give a trailing yield of 3.92% and a forward yield of 4.00% at a price of 50, because the dividend was raised during the year. A one-off special dividend of 1.00 would lift the trailing figure to 5.92%, but it isn't expected to repeat, so it stays out of the forward yield.

Reading the yield-vs-price chart

Because yield is dividend divided by price, the chart draws a curve that climbs steeply as the price falls. A 20% drop from 50.00 to 40.00 lifts the yield from 4.00% to 5.00% with no change in the dividend. That is why a very high yield is worth checking before it is celebrated: it may be high because the market expects a cut. This is often called a yield trap.

Yield on cost

Yield on cost divides the dividend by what you paid. Bought at 40.00, the 2.00 dividend is a 5.00% yield on cost. It is a pleasant number, but it describes the past. The money held in the position today earns the current 4.00%, and that is the figure to compare with other uses of the same money. If you bought at several prices, the Stock Average Calculator gives your average cost.

Payout ratio and dividend cover

A payout ratio above 100% means the company pays out more than it earns, funding the gap from reserves or borrowing. That can't last unless earnings recover. When earnings are zero or negative, the ratio isn't meaningful at all. Property trusts and some funds pay out most of their earnings by design, so judge their ratios against their peers rather than against ordinary companies.

Portfolio yield is weighted by money

Four holdings yielding 4.00%, 3.00%, 7.20% and 1.00% average 3.80%, but if 48% of your money sits in the 1.00% holding, your portfolio really yields 2.87%: 1,780 a year from 62,000. The portfolio tab divides total income by total value, and flags any holding that supplies a much larger share of your income than of your money.

How reinvesting compounds income

With 10,000 invested at a 4% yield, dividends growing 5% a year and the price 3% a year, taking the cash leaves you with 1,010.78 a year of income after 20 years. Reinvesting every payment instead grows it to 2,506.35 a year, and 1,495.57 of that comes from shares your dividends bought. The model raises the dividend once a year, grows the price smoothly and reinvests at each payment date's price, after any tax you enter.

About the ex-dividend date
To receive a dividend you generally need to own the share before its ex-dividend date. On that date the price typically drops by roughly the dividend amount, so buying just before it doesn't create free money.

What this calculator leaves out

It has no live prices or dividend data, no ex-dividend or payment dates, and no tax rules by country. That means no qualified or ordinary dividend treatment and no franking credits: enter your own rate instead. It doesn't convert currencies for foreign holdings or model options and dividend-capture strategies. To see what inflation does to a future income, use the Inflation Calculator. The figures illustrate the arithmetic and are not investment advice.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is the Dividend Yield Calculator free?

Yes, Dividend Yield Calculator is totally free :)

Can I use the Dividend Yield Calculator offline?

Yes, you can install the webapp as PWA.

Is it safe to use Dividend Yield Calculator?

Yes, any data related to Dividend Yield Calculator only stored in your browser (if storage required). You can simply clear browser cache to clear all the stored data. We do not store any data on server.

How do I calculate dividend yield?

Divide the annual dividend per share by the share price and multiply by 100. A stock at 50.00 that pays 0.50 every quarter pays 2.00 a year, so its yield is 2.00 ÷ 50.00 = 4.00%. If you hold 200 shares, that is 400.00 a year, or 100.00 a quarter.

What is the difference between forward and trailing dividend yield?

Trailing yield uses the dividends actually paid over the last 12 months. Forward yield takes the latest regular payment and repeats it for a year. With quarterly payments of 0.48, 0.48, 0.50 and 0.50 at a price of 50, trailing is 1.96 (3.92%) and forward is 2.00 (4.00%), because the dividend was raised. Special one-off dividends are left out of the forward figure because they aren't expected to repeat.

What does yield on cost mean?

Yield on cost is the annual dividend divided by what you paid per share, not today's price. Bought at 40.00, a 2.00 dividend gives you a 5.00% yield on cost, while a buyer today at 50.00 gets 4.00%. It describes your history. The money tied up in the holding today earns the current yield, so compare that figure when deciding where to keep it.

What does the payout ratio show, and what does a ratio above 100% mean?

The payout ratio is the dividend divided by earnings per share: the share of profit paid out as dividends. A 2.00 dividend from 3.20 of earnings is a 62.50% payout. Above 100%, the company is paying out more than it earns, so the gap is covered from cash reserves or borrowing, which can't continue for long unless earnings recover.

Why can a very high dividend yield be a warning sign?

Yield is dividend divided by price, so when the price falls the yield rises even if the dividend hasn't changed. A stock whose yield jumped because its price dropped may be one the market expects to cut its dividend. The yield-vs-price chart in the calculator shows this curve for your stock.

How much do I need to invest for a given monthly dividend income?

Divide the income you want per year by the dividend yield. 500 a month is 6,000 a year, which at a 4.00% yield needs 150,000 (3,000 shares at 50.00). If 15% of dividends goes in tax, the net yield is 3.40%, so you need about 176,470.59, or 3,530 whole shares costing 176,500.00.