What does 7% dividend yield mean?
Dividend yield is a ratio that shows you how much income you earn in dividend payouts per year for every dollar invested in a stock, a mutual fund or an exchange-traded fund (ETF). To put it another way, dividend yield is a security's annual dividend payment expressed as a percentage of its current price.
Dividend yield is the percentage a company pays out annually in dividends per dollar you invest. For example, if a company's dividend yield is 7% and you own $10,000 of its stock, you would see an annual payout of $700 or quarterly installments of $175.
The average dividend yield on S&P 500 index companies that pay a dividend historically fluctuates somewhere between 2% and 5%, depending on market conditions. 7 In general, it pays to do your homework on stocks yielding more than 8% to find out what is truly going on with the company.
For example, if a stock trades for $100 per share today and the company's annualized dividend is $5 per share, the dividend yield is 5%. The formula is: annualized dividend divided by share price equals yield. In this case, $5 divided by $100 equals 5%.
If a company is paying out the majority, or over 100%, of its earnings via dividends, then that dividend yield might not be sustainable. For example, a company offers an 8% dividend yield, paying out $4 per share in dividends, but it generates just $3 per share in earnings.
What Is a Good Dividend Yield? Yields from 2% to 6% are generally considered to be a good dividend yield, but there are plenty of factors to consider when deciding if a stock's yield makes it a good investment. Your own investment goals should also play a big role in deciding what a good dividend yield is for you.
And the higher that balance gets, the less of a dividend yield you'll need to generate some significant income. If, for example, your portfolio gets to a value of $1.5 million, you could invest in a fund or multiple investments that yield an average of 3.3%. At that rate, you could generate $50,000 in annual dividends.
| Company | Dividend Yield |
|---|---|
| Evolution Petroleum Corporation (EPM) | 8.39% |
| Eagle Bancorp Inc (MD) (EGBN) | 8.18% |
| CVR Energy Inc (CVI) | 8.13% |
| First Of Long Island Corp. (FLIC) | 7.87% |
- Verizon Communications VZ.
- Johnson & Johnson JNJ.
- Philip Morris International PM.
- Altria Group MO.
- Comcast CMCSA.
- Medtronic MDT.
- Pioneer Natural Resources PXD.
- Duke Energy DUK.
| Portfolio Dividend Yield | Dividend Payments With $100K |
|---|---|
| 1% | $1,000 |
| 2% | $2,000 |
| 3% | $3,000 |
| 4% | $4,000 |
Can you live off dividend yield?
Over time, the cash flow generated by those dividend payments can supplement your Social Security and pension income. Perhaps, it can even provide all the money you need to maintain your preretirement lifestyle. It is possible to live off dividends if you do a little planning.
The dividend yield is a financial ratio that tells you the percentage of a company's share price that it pays out in dividends each year. For example, if a company has a $20 share price and pays a dividend of $1 per year, its dividend yield would be 5%.
Qualified dividends are taxed at 0%, 15% or 20% depending on taxable income and filing status. Nonqualified dividends are taxed as income at rates up to 37%. IRS form 1099-DIV helps taxpayers to accurately report dividend income.
One downside to investing in stocks for the dividend is an eventual cap on returns. The dividend stock may pay out a sizable rate of return, but even the highest yielding stocks with any sort of stability don't pay out more than ~10% annually in today's low interest rate environment, except in rare circ*mstances.
Dividends are typically issued quarterly but can also be disbursed monthly or annually. Distributions are announced in advance and determined by the company's board of directors. Companies pay dividends for a variety of reasons, most often to show their financial stability and to keep or attract investors.
Generally speaking, double-digit dividend yields are indeed too good to be true. They are often either being paid by unstable companies, or simply represent too much of a company's earnings to be sustainable. Of course, there are some exceptions.
| Ticker | Name | Dividend Safety |
|---|---|---|
| VZ | Verizon | Safe |
| T | AT&T | Borderline Safe |
| CCI | Crown Castle | Borderline Safe |
| WPC | W. P. Carey | Safe |
| S.No. | Name | ROCE % |
|---|---|---|
| 1. | Swadeshi Polytex | 481.94 |
| 2. | Ksolves India | 171.27 |
| 3. | Network People | 122.86 |
| 4. | Remedium Life | 102.61 |
A payout ratio that is between 75% to 95% is considered very high. It implies that the company is bordering towards declaring almost all the money it makes as dividends. This increases the risk of the company cutting its dividends because our formula is forward looking.
Over time you'll find that your investment portfolio's base capital can, indeed, grow to hit your target. Making $1,000 per month in dividends will take patient investing – whether you're buying stocks or funds – or a lot of up-front capital. But with the right mix of yield and patience, you can get there.
How much do you need to invest to make $1000 month on dividends?
For example, if the average yield is 3%, that's what we'll use for our calculations. Keep in mind, yields vary based on the investment. Calculate the Investment Needed: To earn $1,000 per month, or $12,000 per year, at a 3% yield, you'd need to invest a total of about $400,000.
With a 10% yield and monthly payout schedule, you can get to $500 a month with only $60,000 invested. That is, $6,000 per year paid on a monthly basis. Unfortunately, most stocks don't have yields anywhere near 10%. Many do have high enough yields to get you to $500 a month with diligent savings, but don't pay monthly.
In the end, both Coca-Cola and PepsiCo are solid dividend stocks with strong brands and loyal customer bases. The key is to choose the one that best aligns with your investment goals and risk tolerance.
| Dividend Stock | Current Dividend Yield* | Analysts' Implied Upside* |
|---|---|---|
| JPMorgan Chase & Co. (ticker: JPM) | 2.3% | 2.8% |
| Home Depot Inc. (HD) | 2.5% | 10.5% |
| Procter & Gamble Co. (PG) | 2.4% | 15.4% |
| Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) | 3.1% | 25.3% |
- Giant U.S. cigarette maker Altria has a 9.3% yield and a business that's slowly dying.
- AT&T has a 6.7% yield, a lot of debt, and a dominant business position.
- Healthpeak Properties has a 6.6% yield and owns a diversified portfolio of medical buildings.
