How it is worked out
Each dividend buys shares on its ex-dividend day. The total return is the value at the end divided by the value at the start, less one.
How to read it
- For a share with a high dividend, the gap from the price change alone grows large within a few years.
- It does not take off taxes on dividends or trading costs.
- The track record of our analyses measures the price change only, without dividends, as the methodology states. The comparison of companies shows both.
Example
A share goes from $100 to $105 in a year and pays a $4 dividend: the price change is 5%, the total return about 9%.