Dividend yield
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Calculator
Dividend yield calculator
Enter the dividend per payment and how often it is paid, the share price, and what you paid if you own it. Add EPS and free cash flow per share to see whether the payout is covered.
Yield on cost
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Payout vs earnings
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Payout vs cash
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The working
Yield moves with the price
Yield is the annual dividend divided by the share price. The dividend changes a few times a year at most, and the price changes every second, so almost every move you see in a stock's yield comes from the price. A yield that doubles because the price halved is the case worked through in a high dividend yield can just mean the price fell.
Yield on cost divides the same dividend by what you paid. It is a fair measure of what the holding pays you and a poor one for deciding whether to keep it, since the money could be moved at today's price and today's yield.
Is the dividend covered?
The payout ratio against earnings is the familiar one. The ratio against free cash flow is often more telling, because dividends are paid in cash and earnings include items that never become cash. If the first ratio looks comfortable and the second is above 100%, the company is funding the dividend some other way. The payout ratio page shows both calculations, and the dividend yield page covers trailing, forward and special dividends.
Related questions
What is the difference between trailing and forward dividend yield?
Trailing yield adds up the dividends actually paid over the last twelve months. Forward yield takes the most recently declared regular dividend and multiplies it by the number of payments in a year. After a raise, forward yield is higher; after a cut, trailing yield still shows the old, larger payments for a while.
What payout ratio is too high?
There is no single line, because it depends on how steady the business is. A payout above 100% of earnings or of free cash flow means the company is paying out more than it brings in, which it can only keep up by borrowing, selling assets or drawing down cash.