About the Stock Calculator
Looking only at price change tells half a stock’s story: dividends can add 1–6% per year — more for income names — and commission or bid-ask slippage on the way in and out is real money on smaller positions.
This tool computes total return (price gain + dividends), the profit in dollars, percent return — and, with a holding period, the annualized rate.
The formula behind it
Total return accounting for dividends and costs:
Gain = shares × (sell − buy) • Total return % = (price gain + dividends) / cost • Annualized = ((1+TR)^(1/y) − 1)Dividends are entered per share, cumulatively over your holding (raise the field if reinvested for simplicity — the tool treats them as received). Basis cost = shares × buy price.
Worked example
Defaults — 50 shares bought at $120, now at $146, $7.50/share of dividends collected over 2 years:
- Price gain = 50 × ($146 − $120) = $1,300.
- Dividends = 50 × $7.50 = $375. Total profit = $1,675.
- Cost basis = $6,000, so total return = 27.9%; annualized over 2 years = 13.1%.
Takeaway: Dividends added 6.25% to the 21.7% price move — an invisible quarter of the year’s results that statement screens often hide.
What moves the result
- Dividend yield — high-dividend stocks produce very different annualized results on flat price years.
- Dividend reinvestment — compounding gains came from dividends reinvesting into more shares (the dividends-per-share figure is the raw, no-reinvest number).
- Fees and slippage — small positions can lose 0.5–1% to costs; larger trades are typically cheaper.
- Taxes — short-term capital gains are taxed at higher ordinary rates; dividends have their own brackets.
Practical tips
- Track cost basis carefully (including reinvested dividends) — it prevents duplicate taxation at sale.
- Compare total return against S&P 500 total return, not price-only indices.
- Note annualized return is highly sensitive for periods under a year; prefer CAGR on multi-year holds.
- On dividend growth stocks, raise the dividend field by the actual total received incl. raises over your holding period.
- For dollar-cost-averaging purchases, the DCA calculator computes your true average cost — always better than guessing on multiple buys.
Frequently asked questions
What if I bought at different dates/prices?
Use the DCA calculator with your actual purchases, or enter the volume-weighted average price as a single buy.
Do I enter net or gross dividends?
Gross as received (before dividend withholding). After-tax results need a separate adjustment depending on your situation.
Why does the annualized figure look odd on a one-year hold?
One-year annualized equals raw return; anything under a year annualizes upward (including riskier moves). Focus on total return for shorter holds.