How to Calculate a Dividend Payment
You may need to know how to calculate a dividend payment if you plan on making any kind of stock investments. Dividends are payments that are made to those who hold stock in a company. Dividends are paid either by the board of directors choosing the rate to pay or the fixed rate that is guaranteed to investors, as in preferred stock. An investor will calculate the ratio of payout, the yield and the income that the stock will generate when deciding whether or not to purchase the stock. Investors only want stock producing an income, but those who want growth in equity will place less interest in the dividend paid.
To determine what the company dividend is, you must find out how much money the dividend represents. Multiply the number of shares by dividend per share. When dividends are paid on the quarter, you will divide by four to determine what is paid per quarter, or every three months. Here’s an example: 800 shares with an annual dividend of $2.00 per share is $800 x $2.00 = $1600.00/4 = $400 per quarter.
Yield is $25.00 per share with a dividend of $2.00 per share. $25.00/$2.00 = 0.08 or 8%.