Stock Dividend Yield Calculator

Simple dividend yield = annual dividend ÷ share price × 100. Quarterly payout breakdown and forward-yield comparisons.

Inputs

Today's market price per share.

Total $ paid out per share over a full year (= quarterly × 4, or sum the last 4 declared dividends).

Frequency does NOT change the yield % — it splits the dividend into pieces.

Optional — used to compute your annual / per-payout cash income.

Result

Dividend yield
3.000%
$6 annual ÷ $200 share price.
  • Annual dividend per share$6
  • Share price$200
  • Yield (annual / price)3.000%
  • Per-payout amount$1.5 (4×/yr)
  • BandAbove market average — yield-focused names like utilities, telecoms, consumer staples.
  • Your annual income$600 (100 shares)
  • Your per-payout income$150
  • Your monthly income (smoothed)$50
  • Forward-yield contextS&P 500 long-run ≈ 1.7-2.0%; 10-yr Treasury ≈ 4%; high-yield "junk" bond ≈ 7-8%.

Step-by-step

  1. Yield % = annual dividend / price × 100 = $6 / $200 × 100 = 3.0000%.
  2. Per payout = annual / frequency = $6 / 4 = $1.5.
  3. Cash income = 100 shares × $6 = $600/yr.

How to use this calculator

  • Enter the current share price (from your broker or finance.yahoo.com).
  • Enter the annual dividend per share. Most US stocks declare quarterly; multiply the quarterly amount by 4. Some screeners label this "Forward Dividend & Yield".
  • Pick the payout frequency to see per-payout amount and your monthly smoothed income.
  • Optional: enter your share count to project annual + per-payout cash income.

About this calculator

Two flavors of "dividend yield" worth knowing. **Trailing yield** uses the last four quarterly payouts (or the sum of last 12 months' dividends); **forward yield** uses the next four EXPECTED payouts (= the most recently declared quarterly × 4 if the company hasn't announced a change). Most stock screeners default to trailing yield. The two diverge when a company has just raised, cut, or paused its dividend. The "band" classification on the breakdown is rough US convention: <1.5% is below the S&P 500 historical average, 3-4.5% is the typical utilities / staples zone, and anything ≥ 7% has historically been a flag that the market expects a cut (the so-called "dividend trap"). Yield % is independent of payout frequency — paying $4 once vs $1 quarterly delivers the same yield on the same share price.

Frequently asked

Yield = dividend / price. When the share price drops sharply because the market expects a dividend cut, the yield mechanically rises (until the cut is announced). Historical examples: GE in 2017-18, AT&T pre-Discovery spinoff, many BDCs in 2020. Cross-check the payout ratio (dividend / earnings) — >100% is unsustainable.

Related calculators

More tools you might like