Instantly calculate dividend yield, yield on cost, dividend income, and payout ratio. Input share price, dividends, and optional cost basis for U.S. stocks.
Last updated: 19 October 2026
Short answer: the dividend yield formula is annual dividend per share ÷ share price × 100. A $50.00 share paying $2.00 a year yields 2.00 ÷ 50.00 × 100 = 4.00%. This dividend calculator also gives you yield on cost, dividend income and the payout ratio.
Enter your numbers below to turn any stock or fund price and distribution into a yield percentage, an annual, quarterly and monthly dividend income figure, and a payout ratio. Everything runs in your browser: nothing you type is sent anywhere. Results are an educational estimate, not financial, tax or legal advice.
Enter your numbers and select Calculate yield.
Educational estimate, not financial, tax or legal advice. Dividends can be cut or suspended at any time; a high yield can signal risk. Yield changes whenever the price changes. This tool uses only the values you entered and does not fetch live prices. After-tax figures use your entered rate only — state taxes, qualified-dividend federal brackets and foreign withholding are out of scope.
If the price is empty or zero the calculator asks for more information instead of dividing by zero. A dividend of 0 returns 0.00% with a note that the investment pays no dividend under the inputs given.
Dividend yield (%) = annual dividend per share ÷ share price × 100
Rounding rule: yields and ratios are shown to two decimals half-up while the calculation keeps full precision; currency is rounded to the cent and share counts to four decimals.
Trailing versus forward: a trailing dividend yield uses dividends already paid in the past twelve months; a forward dividend yield annualizes the most recent payment rate. This calculator labels a result forward (annualized) whenever you enter a per-payment dividend, because the number is built from the current rate. When you enter an annual figure yourself, the tool cannot know whether your data provider called it trailing or forward — the label says so plainly.
All three examples use hypothetical inputs. Load any of them into the calculator with the example buttons and you will get the same numbers.
Hypothetical inputs: share price $50.00, annual dividend per share $2.00.
Dividend yield = 2.00 ÷ 50.00 × 100 = 4.00%
With 200 shares: annual dividend income = 200 × 2.00 = $400.00; quarterly equivalent = 400.00 ÷ 4 = $100.00; monthly equivalent = 400.00 ÷ 12 = $33.33.
Hypothetical inputs: quarterly dividend $0.52, share price $62.40, average purchase price $40.00, 200 shares.
Annualized dividend = 4 × 0.52 = $2.08
Forward dividend yield = 2.08 ÷ 62.40 × 100 = 3.3333% → 3.33%
Yield on cost = 2.08 ÷ 40.00 × 100 = 5.20%
Annual dividend income = 200 × 2.08 = $416.00; at a 15% user-entered tax rate, after-tax = 416.00 × 0.85 = $353.60 (hypothetical input, not a tax rule)
This is exactly why a dividend income calculator shows both numbers: the same holding yields 3.33% for a new buyer and 5.20% for this buyer.
Hypothetical inputs: annual dividend per share $2.08, earnings per share $5.20.
Payout ratio = 2.08 ÷ 5.20 × 100 = 40.00%
If earnings per share is zero or negative the calculator shows not meaningful instead of a number, because dividing by zero or negative earnings does not describe a sustainable payout.
Hypothetical inputs: 100 shares, constant price $50.00, annual dividend $2.00 per share paid once and reinvested at $50.00, fractional shares allowed.
After year 1: 100 + (100 × 2.00 ÷ 50.00) = 104.0000 shares
After year 2: 104 + (104 × 2.00 ÷ 50.00) = 108.1600 shares
Constant price and constant dividend are simplifying assumptions, not a forecast. Real prices move and real dividends change.
Table 1. Which yield label to trust for the decision in front of you.
| Question | Trailing dividend yield | Forward dividend yield |
|---|---|---|
| What goes in the numerator? | Dividends actually paid in the past 12 months | The current payment rate annualized (payment × payments per year) |
| Best used when… | You want what already happened | You want what the current rate would pay over a full year |
| Main risk | Out of date after a dividend cut or raise | Assumes the latest rate continues for a year |
| This calculator | Cannot know which one your data provider used for an annual figure you typed — it says so on the result | Labeled forward (annualized) whenever you enter a per-payment dividend |
Neither label is a prediction. Both move with price, so the same dividend produces a different yield tomorrow if the market reprices the share.
Table 2. Choose the number that matches the decision you are making.
| Output | Formula | Decision it helps | What changes it |
|---|---|---|---|
| Dividend yield | annual dividend ÷ price × 100 | Is this investment pay competitive income today? | Price, dividend |
| Yield on cost | annual dividend ÷ purchase price × 100 | How well is my own money working? | Dividend, your cost basis |
| Dividend income | shares × annual dividend | What cash can I expect per year, quarter, month? | Share count, dividend |
| Payout ratio | dividends per share ÷ EPS × 100 | Does earnings coverage look sustainable? | Dividend, earnings |
| After-tax income | income × (1 − your rate) | What is left after an assumed rate? | Income, your entered rate |
Payout ratio drawn on a separate 0–100% scale (share of earnings, not yield):
Bars are scaled to a 0–6% axis except the payout ratio, which is drawn on its own 0–100% scale for comparison of coverage, not yield. Hypothetical inputs.
Out-of-scope items are not hidden: they are stated next to the result and in the limitations list below.
A yield percentage does not tell you what lands in your account. The dividend income calculator part of this tool multiplies your share count by the annual dividend per share, then splits that total into quarterly and monthly equivalents so you can line it up against a budget. Annual dividend income = shares × annual dividend per share. If you hold 200 shares paying $2.08 a year you receive $416.00 a year, $104.00 per quarter if payments are quarterly, and $34.67 per month if you divide the annual total by twelve (a monthly equivalent, not a promise of monthly payments).
Many investors also look for an annual dividend income calculator view when comparing several holdings: keep the share count constant, change only the dividend, and the income column ranks the portfolios directly. Payment timing still depends on each company's declaration, so treat the split as arithmetic rather than a schedule.
Yield on cost replaces the market price with your average purchase price: yield on cost = current annual dividend per share ÷ average purchase price × 100. A holding bought at $40.00 that now pays $2.08 shows a 5.20% yield on cost even though a new buyer at $62.40 earns only 3.33%. The figure is a personal history, not a market measure — it ignores commissions, taxes and the opportunity cost of the capital, and it rises automatically when a company raises its dividend.
Compare it with the current yield before drawing conclusions: a rising yield on cost with a falling current yield usually means the price has run ahead of the dividend, which changes the risk picture for anyone buying today.
The payout ratio compares what a company distributes with what it earns: payout ratio = dividends per share ÷ earnings per share × 100. At $2.08 of dividends against $5.20 of earnings the ratio is 40.00%, meaning about four cents of every dollar earned is paid out. When earnings per share is zero or negative this calculator refuses to print a percentage and shows not meaningful instead, because a ratio built on zero or negative earnings does not describe coverage.
There is no universal "safe" number: capital-intensive businesses and REITs often run higher ratios by design, while a ratio climbing because earnings fall is a different signal from one climbing because the dividend was raised. Read it next to the yield, not on its own.
"Yield trap" is informal language for a high trailing yield that is likely to shrink. Warning signs people watch include: the yield sits far above peers because the price fell sharply rather than because the dividend rose; the payout ratio approaches or exceeds 100%; earnings per share has been declining while the dividend was held flat; or the company is issuing shares to fund distributions. None of these facts is a prediction, and this calculator does not score stocks — it simply gives you the inputs (yield, payout ratio, yield on cost) where those patterns show up.
Multiply the shares you own by the annual dividend per share. If you know only one payment, first multiply it by the payments per year: 100 shares receiving $0.52 each quarter earn 100 × (4 × 0.52) = $208.00 a year, or $52.00 per quarter. The calculator performs that chain for you and also shows monthly and after-tax equivalents. Dividends are declared by each company, so an estimate based on the current rate can change at the next declaration.
Dividend yield counts only the cash distributions relative to price. Total return adds price change: total return ≈ dividend yield + price appreciation (or − price decline), before fees and taxes. A holding can show a 4% yield and a negative total return if the price falls more than 4% over the period, and a low-yield holding can lead on total return if the price rises strongly. This page computes the yield and income pieces only; price-change returns need buy and sell prices, which belong in an investment return calculator.
There is no universal good number, and this tool does not set one. A "good" yield depends on what you are comparing — peers in the same sector, broader market levels, or your own income goal — and on whether the payout is covered by earnings. A very high yield often reflects a price drop because the market expects the dividend to fall, so read the payout ratio and the reason behind the price move before treating a high yield as attractive. The SEC's investor education site (investor.gov) and FINRA (finra.org) publish general guidance on evaluating dividends; check them directly.
US federal tax treatment of dividends depends on the type of dividend and your overall income, and many states tax dividends as well. This calculator does not compute any tax: the tax rate field is a personal assumption you type in, and the after-tax card is labeled hypothetical. State taxes, qualified-dividend federal rates and foreign withholding are out of scope. For the rules that apply to you, start with IRS Topic 404 (Dividends) at irs.gov/taxtopics/tc404 and IRS Publication 550; treat them as starting points to verify yourself. This page is an educational estimate, not financial, tax or legal advice.
Byline: Varnda Editorial Team. Nothing on this page should be read as an endorsement by, or affiliation with, the SEC, IRS, FINRA or any other agency or company.
Corrections: if you spot an error, use the contact route published on the Varnda website (no contact address is invented on this page). Reported issues are re-checked against the calculation method before the page is updated.
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This dividend yield calculator answers the income investor's first question — how much cash a holding pays relative to its price or to your cost — with the dividend yield formula, a forward (annualized) yield when you use a per-payment dividend, yield on cost, annual/quarterly/monthly dividend income, a payout ratio with honest "not meaningful" handling, a hypothetical after-tax figure and a clearly assumption-labeled reinvestment illustration. Every result shows the substituted numbers, the rounding rule and the limitations beside it, so you can reproduce the arithmetic by hand.
Try it with your own numbers: jump to the calculator, or load a worked example and edit from there.
Educational estimate only. Not financial, tax or legal advice. Dividends are not guaranteed.
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