Dividend Yield Formula

Dividend yields are the ratio of dividend paid out by the company to the current market price of the share of the company; this is one of the most important metrics in deciding whether an investment into the share will result in the expected returns.

Dividend Yield Formula – Flow of the article

• Dividend Yield Formula
• Dividend Yield Calculator
• Dividend Yield Template

Dividend Yield Formula

Every investor needs to know how much she will get back in return compared to the price she is paying for each share. Dividend Yield formula helps the investors figure out how much return she will get back.

Here’s the formula for dividend yield  –

Explanation of Dividend Yield Formula

Let’s take a simple example to illustrate how dividend yield formula works.

Let’s say that X and Y both bought the shares of two different companies. X got to know that his dividend yield is 10% and Y got to know that her dividend yield is 5%.

X got pretty happy since he is getting a lot more compared to what he paid for each share. However, Y got a bit sad to see that her dividend yield – stock is only a meager percentage.

They both consult a financial consultant. And the financial consultant told both X and Y that usually when a company pays more dividend yield, the company’s growth potential is not that good and vice versa.

Knowing that X thought upon his decision to buy the share for more dividend yield, but Y got happy knowing that she made a prudent decision.

From the above example, it’s clear that dividend yield has a lot to do with how a company is approaching its future potential. That’s why for an investor, it’s an important measure. But to get a sound knowledge of a company; the investor also needs to look at other measures like market value of the company, enterprise value, net income for the last year, financial statements etc.

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Use of Dividend Yield Formula

The formula that is used for dividend yield is the simplest and any novice can also understand how to calculate it. That’s why its appeal is more to the investor.

But before an investor ever decides to look at the dividend yield; she also needs to look at the past records of the company, how much dividend per share the company paid in recent years, company’s future growth potential etc.

If an investor looks at all the measures along with dividend yield; she will get a holistic approach to the company. And she will also understand whether to invest in that particular company or not.

Example of Dividend Yield Formula

We will now take a practical example of dividend yield formula.

Good Inc. is offering a dividend of $4 per share. Binny has bought few shares of Good Inc. at $100 per share. What would be the dividend yield of Good Inc.?

On the surface, this is a simple example. First, we will calculate the dividend yield and then we will discuss how we can interpret this.

• We know the dividend per share. It is $4 per share.
• We also know the price per share i.e. $100 per share.

Dividend yield  of Good Inc. is then –

• Dividend Yield  = Annual Dividend per Share / Price per Share = $4 / $100 = 4%.

An investor who doesn’t know the growth potential of Good Inc. may judge that the dividend yield is too low. However, Good Inc. may have a great growth potential for which it pays less dividend and concentrates more on the maximization of wealth for the shareholders.

Dividend Yield  Calculator

You can use the following Dividend Yield Calculator

Dividend Yield in Excel (with Excel Template)

Let us now do the same example above in Excel.

This is very simple. You need to provide the two inputs of Dividend per Share and Price per Share.

You can easily calculate the ratio in the template provided.

Dividend Yield Formula Video

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This has been a guide to dividend yield formula, its uses along with practical examples. Here we also provide you with dividend yield calculator with downloadable excel template.

• Dividend
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• Yield Function Formula
• Payback Period Formula
• Real Rate of Return Formula
• Dividends per Share Formula 
• Dividend Payout Ratio Formula

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