Dividend Calculator

100 shares paying 0.50 quarterly is 200 gross a year, or 162 after 19% tax. That is 13.50 a month and a 5% yield at a 40 share price.

Currency and number format for

You receive a year, after tax

—

You receive a year, after tax—

Gross annual—

Tax withheld—

In each payment—

Which is, per month—

Dividend yield—

How this was worked out

The formula

gross = shares × dividend × payments per year · net = gross − tax

Where it comes from

The dividend per share is what you get each time it pays, so the annual figure depends on the frequency as much as the amount. Tax is withheld before the money reaches you, and the yield compares the annual dividend against the current share price.

How to work it out by hand

Multiply the dividend per share by the number of shares
Multiply by how many times a year it pays
Subtract the withholding tax
Divide the annual gross dividend by the share price for the yield

What is worth knowing

A high yield is not automatically good news, and often it is the opposite: yield rises when the price falls, so the highest yields on any screen usually belong to companies the market expects to cut the dividend. The figures worth checking alongside it are the payout ratio, which shows whether the dividend is covered by earnings, and the dividend history, which shows whether it has ever been cut. Note too that this is a snapshot: reinvesting dividends rather than spending them is what turns a modest yield into most of the long-run return of equity markets.

Frequently asked questions

Is a high dividend yield good?

Not on its own. Yield rises as the price falls, so unusually high yields often signal a dividend the market expects to be cut. Check whether earnings cover it.

How are dividends taxed?

It varies by country, and often twice: withheld at source in the company's country and taxed again in yours, with a treaty credit for the difference. Enter your own effective rate.

Should I reinvest them?

If you do not need the income, reinvesting is what makes dividends powerful over decades. Spending them turns compounding into a flat return.

Does the share price drop when it pays?

Yes, by roughly the dividend, on the ex-dividend date. The dividend is not free money; it is a transfer from the company's value to your account.