How to Use Yield Calculations to Identify Stocks That Pay Dividends
There are many advantages of investing in stocks that pay dividends. They can offer a solid source of income for investors looking to supplement their earnings. In addition, an investment like High Yields this can often provide a secure place to earn capital gains. The opportunity to earn income and increase net worth make dividend stocks a wise investment choice.
While this type of investment can provide multiple opportunities to increase net worth and cash flow, there are some risks investors should consider. Chasing the highest yielding stocks, for example, is thought of a very risky strategy. One way to minimize the investment risk is to leverage many of the ratios and financial calculations for a particular stock.
For dividend investors, calculating the current yield of a company is an important piece of data that can give investors important details. These details and calculations can be used to make sound investment choices.
Current Dividend Yield Calculation
Calculating a stocks current dividend yield is a very simple equation. Most financial websites or online stock brokers already publish this up to date information for stocks that pay dividends. Even though dividend yields are easy to find, it is important for investors to learn where this calculation is derived from. Understanding how the yield is calculated can help investors see the overall health of the company.
Investors can use the following equation to calculate a company’s current yield.
Current Dividend Yield = Annual Dividend / Current Share Price
The current yield on a stock that pays dividends is calculated by dividing the annual dividend of a company by its current share price. The annual dividend would equal the total dividend payout to shareholders for the past 12 months. It will normally exclude special one time payouts that do not follow the normal dividend calendar of the company.
The calculation above also uses the current share price of the stock. While this information can be accessed easily, the share price of a stock can fluctuate considerably throughout the course of a day, week, month, or year. Inves