Dividend Yield Calculator
Dividend yield on today’s price, yield on what you paid, the payout ratio against earnings, and the income your shares bring in each year and each payment.
Result
Dividend yield: 3%
Dividends can be cut or raised at any time. A yield describes the past payment, not a promise.
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Results are arithmetic on the returns, rates and horizons you enter, not a forecast and not investment, tax or retirement advice. The site supplies no expected return, inflation rate, contribution limit, tax rate or withdrawal rate. Real returns vary from year to year, and fees, taxes and the order of returns all change the outcome. Check anything that matters with a qualified adviser. Read the full disclaimer
How to use the Dividend Yield Calculator
- Enter the share price and the dividend, either as the annual total or as one payment with how many payments a year.
- Optionally enter your number of shares, the price you paid and the company's earnings per share.
- Read the yield, your income, your yield on cost and the payout ratio.
The formulas
annual dividend = one payment × payments a year, or the annual totaldividend yield = annual dividend ÷ current priceyield on cost = annual dividend ÷ your purchase pricepayout ratio = annual dividend ÷ earnings per shareannual income = annual dividend × sharesOne dividend, several yields
The same 2.40 dividend is 3% of an 80 share price and 8% of a 30 purchase price. A yield always depends on what it is divided by, so it helps to know which one is being quoted. The price you paid is a sunk cost for decisions about the future, but yield on cost is still the honest measure of what your original money now earns.
Earnings cover
The payout ratio compares the dividend with the profit per share that pays for it. Below 100%, the company retains part of its earnings; above it, the dividend is being paid from somewhere other than this year’s profit.
With your numbers
- Annual dividend = $2.40 ($0.60 × 4)
- Yield = $2.40 ÷ $80.00 = 3%
- Yield on cost = $2.40 ÷ $30.00 = 8%
Quick reference
Dividends can be cut or raised at any time. A yield describes the past payment, not a promise.
| Example | Dividend yield |
|---|---|
| 2.40 a year on 80, bought at 30 | 3% |
| 0.60 a quarter on 80 | 3% |
| 2.50 on 50, bought at 50 | 5% |
| Earnings of 3.20 a share | 3% |
| Earnings of 1.60 a share | 3% |
| 200 shares at 2.40 | 3% |
Common questions about the Dividend Yield Calculator
- What is yield on cost?
- The dividend divided by what you paid for the share rather than its price today. Buy at 30, and a 2.40 dividend on an 80 share price is a 3% yield to a new buyer but 8% on your money. Both are true: the current yield tells you what the share offers now, and the yield on cost tells you what your original investment earns.
- What does a payout ratio above 100% mean?
- That the company is paying out more in dividends than it earned per share. A dividend of 2.40 on earnings of 1.60 is a 150% payout. It can be funded for a while from cash or borrowing, but not indefinitely from earnings. The page flags it as a fact, not a prediction or a recommendation.
- Trailing or forward yield?
- A trailing yield uses the dividends actually paid over the past year; a forward yield projects the latest payment across the coming year. Entering one quarterly payment of 0.60 with four payments gives a forward yield, which assumes the payment continues.
- Is a high yield good?
- Not necessarily. A yield rises when the price falls, and a price falls when investors expect trouble, sometimes including a dividend cut. The page shows the arithmetic, not whether a dividend is safe.