Yield on Cost Calculator
Calculate dividend yield relative to your original cost per share rather than the current market price.
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Understand yield on cost
Yield on cost describes the current dividend relative to your historical purchase cost. It is not the same as current dividend yield.
Formula
Worked example
A $4 current annual dividend on an original cost of $40 per share produces a 10% yield on cost.
How to interpret the result
Yield on cost describes the current dividend relative to your historical purchase cost. It is not the same as current dividend yield.
Assumptions & limitations
Yield on cost is backward-looking and should not be used as a substitute for evaluating current market value, opportunity cost or future dividend sustainability.
Practical context
When this calculator is useful
Yield on cost is useful for understanding current annual dividend income relative to the original per-share purchase cost. It can illustrate how dividend growth changes the income generated on an older investment cost basis.
How investors commonly use it
Long-term dividend investors sometimes use yield on cost as a personal historical metric to track how distributions have grown since purchase, while separately monitoring current yield for present-day valuation.
What this metric does not tell you
Yield on cost is not a measure of the return available to a new investor and can create an anchoring effect around the original purchase price. It does not reflect current opportunity cost, capital gains or total return.