Dividend calculator
Enter how many shares you hold, or how much you invest, with the share price and either a dividend yield or the dividend per payment. Choose how often it is paid and how many years to look ahead. Turn on reinvestment (DRIP) to see how reinvested dividends buy more shares, with optional growth in the price and in the dividend.
Runs in your browser: nothing you enter is sent anywhere.
How to use it
- Choose whether you know the number of shares or the amount invested, and enter the share price.
- Enter the dividend either as a yearly yield or as the amount per share per payment, and choose how often it is paid.
- Set the number of years. Add price growth and dividend growth if you want them; both are percentages per year.
- Switch Reinvest dividends (DRIP) on or off and compare.
How it works
The annual dividend per share in year 1 is price × yield, or the per-payment amount times the number of payments a year. It is paid in equal payments. In year y it is multiplied by (1 + dividend growth)^(y − 1).
- Without DRIP the share count stays fixed and the cash dividends are totalled.
- With DRIP every payment buys payment ÷ price new shares, where the price on the payment date is today’s price × (1 + price growth)^(time in years).
- Final value = shares at the end × the price after all the years.
Worked example
You invest 10,000 at 50 a share: 200 shares. A 4% yield is 2.00 per share a year, so you receive 400 a year, 100 a quarter. Over 3 years without reinvestment that is 1,200 and the shares are still worth 10,000 if the price is flat.
Tips
- Look beyond a high yield. A yield rises when the price falls, which can signal trouble.
- Check the payout schedule. Some companies pay less often than quarterly.
- Compare with and without DRIP. Reinvesting matters most over long periods.
- Keep assumptions modest. The results are only as realistic as the growth rates you enter.
Frequently asked questions
How is dividend income calculated?
Shares times the annual dividend per share. With a yield, the dividend per share is the share price times the yield: 200 shares at a price of 50 and a 4% yield earn 200 × 2.00 = 400 a year, or 100 each quarter.
What is DRIP?
A dividend reinvestment plan uses each dividend to buy more shares instead of paying cash. The next dividend is then paid on more shares. Here, 100 shares at 100 with a 4% yield, paid yearly, become 104 after year one and 108.16 after year two.
How does share price growth affect the result?
A rising price means each reinvested dividend buys fewer shares, but the shares you hold are worth more. The price growth you enter sets the price at which dividends are reinvested and the final value of the shares.
Is the dividend assumed to grow?
Only if you enter a dividend growth rate; it is 0% by default. Dividends are cut or raised in practice, so try a few values.
Are taxes and fees included?
No. Dividends are often taxed, and brokers may charge fees; the results are before both. They are projections from your assumptions, not forecasts.