Work out total return on a share holding including price gain and dividends received.
Price change alone understates return for any dividend-paying holding. Annualising with the holding period is what makes a three-year gain comparable with a one-year one. Index charts usually show price only, which is why long-run equity returns look far lower on a chart than they were with dividends reinvested.
Stock Return
Total return = (price gain + dividends) ÷ purchase cost
Total return = (price gain + dividends) ÷ purchase cost Price change alone understates return for any dividend-paying holding. Annualising with the holding period is what makes a three-year gain comparable with a one-year one.
Index charts usually show price only, which is why long-run equity returns look far lower on a chart than they were with dividends reinvested.
This calculator takes 5 inputs: Purchase price per share, Current or sale price per share, Number of shares, Dividends received per share, Holding period. The pre-filled defaults are a realistic starting point — replace them with figures from your own environment for a result you can act on.