How to Calculate Dividends

PDF download Download Article
PDF download Download Article

When a company makes money, it usually has two general options. On one hand, it can reinvest this money in the company by expanding its own operations, buying new equipment, and so on. (Money spent this way is called "retained earnings.") Alternatively, it can use its profits to pay its investors. Money paid to investors in this way is called a "dividend". [1] Calculating the dividend that a shareholder is owed by a company is generally fairly easy; simply multiply the dividend paid per share (or "DPS") by the number of shares you own . It's also possible to determine the "dividend yield" (the percentage of your investment that your stock holdings will pay you in dividends) by dividing the DPS by the price per share. [2]

Formula to Determine Dividends

Multiply the number of shares you hold of a stock by the company’s dividends per share (DPS) value. DPS = (D - SD)/S where D is the amount paid in regular dividends, SD the amount paid in special, one-time dividends, and S the total number of investor shares of company stock.

Dividends Calculator

Method 1
Method 1 of 2:

Finding Total Dividends from DPS

PDF download Download Article
  1. If you're not already aware of how many shares of company stock you own, find out. You can usually get this information by contacting your broker or investment agency or checking the regular statements that are usually sent to a company's investors via mail or email.
  2. Find your company's dividends per share (or "DPS") value. This represents the amount of dividend money that investors are awarded for each share of company stock they own. [3] For a given time period, DPS can be calculated using the formula DPS = (D - SD)/S where D = the amount of money paid in regular dividends, SD = the amount paid in special, one-time dividends, and S = the total number of shares of company stock owned by investors. [4]
    • For this calculation, you can usually find D and SD on a company's cash flow statement and S on its balance sheet.
    • Note that a company's dividend-payout rate can change over time. Thus, if you're using past dividend values to estimate what you'll be paid in the future, there's a chance that your calculation may not be accurate.
    Advertisement
  3. When you know the number of shares of company stock you own and the company's DPS for the most recent recent time period, finding the approximate amount of dividends you will earn is easy. Simply use the formula D = DPS multiplied by S, where D = your dividends and S = the number of shares you own. Remember that since you're using the company's past DPS value, your estimate for future dividend payments may end up differing somewhat from the actual number. [5]
    • For example, let's say that you own 1,000 shares of stock in a company that paid $0.75 per share in dividends last year. Plugging the appropriate values into the formula above, we get D = 0.75 multiplied by 1,000 = $750 . In other words, if the company pays about the same amount of dividends this year as it did last year, you'll make about $750.
  4. If you're calculating the dividends for many different stock holdings, or if you're dealing with large numbers, the basic multiplication required to find the dividends you're owed can be laborious. In this case, using a calculator can be much easier. You may want to use the free calculator provided at the top of the article, or one of many online dividend calculators which offer sophisticated options for calculating your dividends.
    • Other types of calculators can be useful for accomplishing similar investment calculations. For instance, this calculator works backwards, finding DPS from the company's total dividends and your number of shares.
  5. The process above is designed to work for relatively simple cases where the number of stocks owned is a fixed quantity. However, in real life, investors often use the dividends they earn to buy more shares of stock in a process called "dividend reinvestment." By doing this, an investor sacrifices a short-term dividend payout in favor of the long-term gains that can result from owning added shares. If you've arranged for a dividend-reinvestment program as part of your investment, keep an updated tally of shares you own so that your calculations will be accurate. [6]
    • For instance, let’s say you earn $100 per year in dividends from one of your investments and that you arrange to have this money reinvested into additional shares every year. If the stock trades at $10 per share and has a DPS of $1 annually, spending your $100 will get you ten more shares and another $10 in additional dividends per year, bringing your dividends to $110 in the next year. Assuming the stock’s price remains the same, you’ll be able to buy eleven more shares the following year, then about twelve the year after that. This "compounding" effect will continue as long as you let it, assuming the stock price remains stable or rises. This focus on dividends as an investment strategy has made some people rather wealthy, although, alas, there are no guarantees of spectacular results.
    6. Advertisement
Method 2
Method 2 of 2:

Finding Dividend Yield

PDF download Download Article
  1. Sometimes when investors say that they want to calculate the "dividend" on their stocks, what they're actually referring to is the "dividend yield." The dividend yield is the percentage of your investment that a stock will pay you back in the form of dividends. Dividend yield can be thought of as an "interest rate" on a stock.To get started, you'll need to find the current price per share of the stock you're analyzing.
    • For publicly-traded companies (Apple, for instance), you can find the latest stock price by checking the website of any major stock index (e.g., NASDAQ or S&P 500) [7]
    • Keep in mind that the share price of a company's stock can fluctuate based on the company's performance. Thus, estimations for the dividend yield of a company's stock can be inaccurate if the stock's price suddenly moves significantly.
  2. Find the most recent DPS value of the stock you own. Again, the formula is DPS = (D - SD)/S where D = the amount of money paid in regular dividends, SD = the amount paid in special, one-time dividends, and S = the total number of shares of company stock owned by all investors. [8]
    • As noted above, you can typically find D and SD on a company's cash flow statement and S on its balance sheet. As an additional reminder, a company's DPS can fluctuate with time, so you'll want to use a recent time period for the most accurate results.
  3. Finally, divide your DPS value by the price per share for the stock you own to find your dividend yield (or, in other words, use the formula DY = DPS/SP ). This simple ratio compares the amount of money you are paid in dividends to the amount of money you had to pay for the stock to begin with. The greater the dividend yield, the more money you'll earn on your initial investment. [9]
    • For example, let's say that you own 50 shares of company stock and that you bought these shares at a price of $20 per share. If the company's DPS in recent time periods has been roughly $1, you can find the dividend yield by plugging your values into the formula DY = DPS/SP; thus, DY = 1/20 = 0.05 or 5% . In other words, you'll make 5% of your investment back in each round of dividends, no matter how much or how little you invest.
  4. Investors often use dividend yields to determine whether to make certain investments or not. Different yields appeal to different investors. For instance, an investor who's looking for a steady, regular source of income might invest in a company with a high dividend yield. These are typically successful, established companies. On the other hand, an investor who's willing to take a risk for the chance of a major payout might invest in a young company with lots of growth potential. Such companies often keep most of their profits as retained earnings and won't pay out much in the form of dividends until they are more established. Thus, knowing the dividend yields of the companies you're thinking of investing in can help you make smart, informed investment decisions.
    • For instance, let’s say that two competing companies both offer dividend payments of $2 per share. While they may at first seem to be equally good investment opportunities, if one company’s stock is trading at $20 per share and the other’s is trading at $100 per share, the company with the $20 share price is the better deal (all other factors being equal). Every share of the $20 company will earn you 2/20 or 10% of your initial investment per year, while every share of the $100 company will earn you just 2/100 or 2% of your initial investment.
    5. Advertisement

Community Q&A

Search
Add New Question
  • Question
    If you own your company and have $700,000 in profit, what is the amount of money paid on dividends?
    Donagan
    Top Answerer
    That is entirely up to company management. It may choose to pay any amount in dividends -- or none at all.
    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
    Thank you for your feedback.
    If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
    Yes No
    Not Helpful 8 Helpful 31
  • Question
    If I have invested $8,000 in mutual funds, which are, 23 years later, worth $11,0000, how much interest have I earned?
    Donagan
    Top Answerer
    You should have received an annual statement from the mutual fund company telling you how much interest you earned each year. They keep records of that information and should be able to supply it now if you don't have the records in your possession. You can't simply subtract your initial investment from the current value, because presumably some (perhaps most) of the gains you've made over the years represent investment gains rather than interest.
    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
    Thank you for your feedback.
    If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
    Yes No
    Not Helpful 4 Helpful 9
  • Question
    My accountant said I have dividends that I have not taken from my company. What does that mean? There is no money in my company's account.
    Donagan
    Top Answerer
    If there's no money in your stockholder's account, there can't be any dividend payments contained there. Ask your accountant what's going on.
    Thanks! We're glad this was helpful.
    Thank you for your feedback.
    If wikiHow has helped you, please consider a small contribution to support us in helping more readers like you. We’re committed to providing the world with free how-to resources, and even $1 helps us in our mission. Support wikiHow
    Yes No
    Not Helpful 9 Helpful 6
See more answers
Ask a Question
200 characters left
Include your email address to get a message when this question is answered.
Submit
      Advertisement

      Video

      Tips


      Submit a Tip
      All tip submissions are carefully reviewed before being published
      Name
      Please provide your name and last initial
      Submit
      Thanks for submitting a tip for review!
      Advertisement

      Warnings

      • Not all stocks or funds pay dividends. Some are primarily growth stocks or growth funds. In such cases investment earnings will come from share price appreciation when you sell. In some cases struggling companies may reinvest profits into the company rather than paying them to shareholders.
        Thanks
        Helpful 3 Not Helpful 0
      • Calculating dividend yields involves the assumption that dividends will remain constant. An assumption is not a guarantee.
        Thanks
        Helpful 6 Not Helpful 2
      Advertisement

      You Might Also Like

      How to
      Calculate an Annual Percentage Growth Rate
      How to
      Make Money with Sweatcoin
      How to
      Calculate NPV
      How to
      Delete a Robinhood Account
      How to
      Find the Maturity Value for an Investment
      How to
      Calculate Beta
      How to
      Start Investing
      How to
      Calculate Annualized Portfolio Return
      How to
      Start an Investment Club
      How to
      Create an Investment Plan
      How to
      Set Up a Stop‐loss Order
      How to
      Calculate Bond Accrued Interest
      How to
      Annualize a Quarterly Return
      How to
      Buy Oil Wells
      Advertisement

      Expert Interview

      Thanks for reading our article! If you’d like to learn more about investing, check out our in-depth interview with Jonathan DeYoe, CPWA®, AIF® .

      References

      1. ↑ https://www.annuity.org/personal-finance/investing/dividend/yield/
      2. ↑ https://www.nerdwallet.com/blog/investing/what-are-dividends/
      3. ↑ https://www.annuity.org/personal-finance/investing/dividend/yield/
      4. ↑ http://www.investopedia.com/terms/d/dividend-per-share.asp
      5. ↑ https://corporatefinanceinstitute.com/resources/knowledge/finance/dividend-per-share/
      6. ↑ https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/032415/what-causes-dividends-share-decrease.asp
      7. ↑ https://www.nasdaq.com/market-activity/stocks/aapl
      8. ↑ https://www.investopedia.com/ask/answers/032515/what-difference-between-earnings-share-and-dividends-share.asp
      9. ↑ https://finance.zacks.com/dividend-yield-5308.html

      About This Article

      Article Summary X

      To calculate dividends, find out the company's dividend per share (DPS), which is the amount paid to every investor for each share of stock they hold. Next, multiply the DPS by the number of shares you hold in the company's stock to determine approximately what you're total payout will be. If you're involved in a dividend reinvestment program, find out how much of your dividends you're investing so that you know how many shares you own and your calculation remains accurate. To find out how to calculate dividend yield, keep reading!

      Did this summary help you?
      In other languages
      Thanks to all authors for creating a page that has been read 1,080,193 times.

      Reader Success Stories

      • D. Emmanuel

        Nov 3, 2019

        "It has increased my understanding on dividends. Thank you."
      More reader stories Hide reader stories
      Share your story

      Did this article help you?

      Advertisement