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Stock Return Calculator

See your full stock return, dividends included.

How it is calculated

Everything is computed per share first and then scaled by the share count. total return % = (sell_price − buy_price + dividends_per_share) / buy_price × 100, total gain = (sell_price − buy_price + dividends_per_share) × shares and capital gain = (sell_price − buy_price) × shares. The difference between the last two is the dividend income. The dividend field is the total dividends received per share over the whole holding period, not the yield. The result is a simple holding-period return: it is not annualised, dividends are not reinvested, and commissions, taxes and currency changes are ignored. The buy price must be above zero.

Worked example

You bought 200 shares at $50, received dividends of $1.80 per share in total and sold at $62. Price change: 62 − 50 = 12; add dividends: 12 + 1.80 = 13.80 per share. Return: 13.80 / 50 = 27.60%. Total gain: 13.80 × 200 = $2,760.00, of which the capital gain is 12 × 200 = $2,400.00 and the remaining $360.00 came from dividends.

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Common mistakes

  • Typing the dividend yield (for example 3.6) into the dividends-per-share field; it needs the money amount paid per share.
  • Entering the total dividend cash for the whole position instead of the amount per share, which inflates the return by the share count.
  • Comparing the result with an annual figure: the return covers the whole holding period, so a 27.6% over four years is not a 27.6% a year.
  • Forgetting that the tool does not subtract brokerage fees or dividend withholding tax, so net returns are lower.
  • Expecting reinvested dividends to compound: each dividend is simply added at face value.

About this calculator

Total stock return captures the full picture of an investment's performance by combining capital gains (the change in share price) with dividends received along the way, rather than looking at price movement alone. The formula is (ending price − starting price + dividends) / starting price, expressed as a percentage — and it's the standard way analysts and index providers calculate 'total return' versus a bare price return.

Investors use total return to fairly compare stocks with different dividend policies: a slow-growing but high-dividend stock can outperform a fast-growing non-dividend payer on a total-return basis even if its price chart looks flatter. It's also the basis for total-return indices (like the S&P 500 Total Return Index) which reinvest dividends, versus price-only indices that don't.

Your purchase price, current price, and dividends received go in, and your total stock return is what you read off.

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