Learn / Fundamentals / Valuation / Dividend Yield
Dividend Yield = Annual Dividend ÷ Share Price
This number tells you how much cash the company pays you each year for every dollar of stock price. A 4% yield means $4 of dividends for every $100 you pay.
01 Feel it first
Pick a dividend preset, then watch the seesaw: lower price, higher yield. Hit the crash button and see the yield jump on the same cash payment.
02 Break the intuition
Walk the trap: crash → spike → cut → collapse. Peel the cards to see the sequence.
03 Run the years
Pick a path and press Play. Same starting stake and yield, but reinvesting dividends compounds your total over 10 years.
Illustrative $100 starting stake at 4% yield over 10 years.
Pick a path, then press Play to watch the years fill in.
04 Sort them out
A high percentage is not always good income. Sort each card by whether the yield looks sustainable.
Tap a card, then sort into Healthy yield or Yield trap.
Tap a card, then tap a bucket.
05 Two flavors
Last year's cash already paid versus what the company says it will pay next.
06 The catch
Utilities and phone companies often pay out; growth tech usually does not. Compare within income peers.
07 Check yourself
08 Where it breaks
A special dividend inflates trailing yield. Strip specials before you treat the rate as normal yearly income.
If the dividend exceeds free cash flow (cash left after keeping the business running) for years, a cut is a when, not an if.
A 4% yield with a shrinking share price still loses money. Price change is the other half of what you earn.
Qualified dividends, ordinary income, and REIT distributions are not the same after tax. Gross yield overstates spendable income.
See trailing and forward dividend yield, payout context, and peers — then screen for sustainable income, not just a high percentage.
You get 4.0% back in cash each year for every dollar you pay at $50. Lower price mechanically raises yield.