Calculator
Dividend yield calculator
Enter the share price, the dividend per payment and how often it is paid. The calculator returns the yield, the annual dividend per share, your yearly income before tax and, if you add earnings per share, the payout ratio.
Quick answer
Dividend yield = annual dividend per share / share price [1]. With a $80 share price and $0.60 paid four times a year, the annual dividend is $2.40 and the yield is 3% (calculated). Dividends are not guaranteed and can be cut [5].
This calculator needs JavaScript. The formula and a worked example below show the same calculation by hand.
Key points
On this page
How does the calculator work?#
It multiplies the dividend per payment by the number of payments a year to get the annual dividend per share. Then it divides that by the share price. FINRA describes the same calculation: dividend yield is the yearly dividend rate divided by the current price [1], or for stocks, the year's dividend divided by the market price [2].
dividend yield = (dividend per payment × payments per year) / share price × 100
Two optional fields add context. Shares you own turns the yield into dollars of yearly income before tax. Earnings per share (EPS) adds the payout ratio, the share of earnings paid out as dividends, which Nasdaq defines as the cash dividend divided by earnings for the same period [3]. Our explainer on dividend yield covers how to read the number.
Can you check the result by hand?#
Keep the dividend fixed at $2.40 a year and change only the price, and the yield moves the other way. FINRA notes that when a price rises its yield typically falls, and when the price falls its yield rises [1].
Same $2.40 annual dividend at three share prices (calculated):
| Share price | Annual dividend | Yield |
|---|---|---|
| Price $60.00 | $2.40 | 4% |
| Price $80.00 | $2.40 | 3% |
| Price $100.00 | $2.40 | 2.4% |
Hypothetical figures, calculated with the same formula as the calculator.
Which dividend should you enter?#
Use the regular dividend per payment and the number of regular payments a year, as announced by the company. Quote pages may base the yield they display on past payments or on the latest announced rate, so their figure can differ from yours; check which one they use.
Leave out one-off payments. Companies usually pay on a fixed schedule but can issue dividends at any time, and an unscheduled payment is a special or extra dividend [4]. Counting it as if it repeats would overstate the yield. Yield also changes whenever a company raises or lowers its dividend [1].
What does the calculator not tell you?#
- Whether the dividend will continue. A company may pay dividends on common stock but does not have to, and it can cut or eliminate them [5].
- Why a yield is high. A high yield can simply follow a fall in the share price, as the table shows [1].
- Your return. Dividend yield is added to capital gains or losses to get total return [1], and the price can fall by more than the dividends paid.
- Tax. Ordinary dividends are taxed as ordinary income and qualified dividends at capital gain rates [6]. The income figure is before tax.
- Timing. To receive the next payment you must own the shares before the ex-dividend date [7].
Frequently asked questions#
What is a good dividend yield?
Why does the yield change when the dividend did not?
Because the price is in the denominator. With the dividend unchanged, a lower price gives a higher yield and a higher price a lower one [1].
Is a payout ratio above 100% possible?
Yes. If a company pays more in dividends than it earns in the period, the ratio of dividends to earnings [3] is above 100%. With a loss, the ratio is not meaningful, and the calculator shows n/a when EPS is zero or negative.
Does the income figure include tax?
No. It is the yearly dividend on your shares before any tax. How dividends are taxed depends on whether they are ordinary or qualified [6].
The bottom line#
The calculator turns a dividend per payment into a yield, a yearly income and a payout ratio, using the same formula FINRA describes. Treat the result as a snapshot of today's price and the dividend you entered, not a forecast. Read the risk disclosure before buying a stock for its dividend.
Sources
Education only. This page is not investment, tax or legal advice. Stocks can lose value. See our risk disclosure.
