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Total return calculator

Total return is the ending value minus the beginning value, plus income, all over the beginning value. A holding bought at $100, worth $105, that paid $3 returned 8 percent, not 5 percent. The extra 3 points are the income.

Total return

8.00%

Price change 5.00%. Income yield 3.00%.

Beginning value
$100.00
Ending value
$105.00
Income
$3.00
Price change
5.00%
Income yield
3.00%
Total return
8.00%
$

What you paid, or the value at the start of the period.

$

Price or market value at the end of the same period, before adding income.

$

Dividends, coupon, or rent paid during the period. Not the ending price.

On this page

The formula

HPR=End−Begin+IncomeBegin\text{HPR} = \frac{\text{End} - \text{Begin} + \text{Income}}{\text{Begin}}

End is the value at the close of the period. Income is dividends, coupon, or rent paid during it. The result is in percentage points: 8, not 0.08.

Price change is not the whole return

Total return adds the income to the price change:

HPR=End−Begin+IncomeBegin\text{HPR} = \frac{\text{End} - \text{Begin} + \text{Income}}{\text{Begin}}

Bought at $100, worth $105, paid $3: price change is 5 percent, income yield is 3 percent, total return is 8 percent.

The calculator on this page is that split. How total return works owns it. CAGR is a different object: a multi-year annualised rate. Total return against CAGR is the pair.

How price return works owns the 5 percent from the quotes. This calculator prints that slice next to the 3 percent income yield and the 8 percent sum.

A loss on price can still pay income

Begin $50, end $40, income $2. Price change is -20 percent. Income yield is 4 percent. Total return is -16 percent.

The $2 did not make the holding a winner. It made the loss smaller than the price path.

A flat price is a pure income return

Begin $80, end $80, income $4. Price change is 0. Income yield is 5 percent. Total return is 5 percent.

A coupon or a dividend on an unchanged price is the whole return. Judging that holding on price alone reports 0.

What this page is not doing

It is not CAGR, not a real return, and not a reinvestment model. Income is added, not compounded inside the period. The three sheets are 8 percent on $100, -16 percent on $50, and 5 percent on a flat $80. This is educational material, not financial advice.

Worked examples

Eight percent, not five

A holding is bought at $100, ends the period at $105, and pays $3 of income. What is total return?

  1. Price change: (105−100)/100=0.05(105 - 100) / 100 = 0.05, 5 percent.
  2. Income yield: 3/100=0.033 / 100 = 0.03, 3 percent.
  3. Total return: (105−100+3)/100=0.08(105 - 100 + 3) / 100 = 0.08, 8 percent.

Total return is 8 percent. Price change is 5 percent. Income yield is 3 percent.

A 16 percent loss after income

Begin $50, end $40, income $2. What is total return?

  1. Price change: (40−50)/50=−0.20(40 - 50) / 50 = -0.20, -20 percent.
  2. Income yield: 2/50=0.042 / 50 = 0.04, 4 percent.
  3. Total return: (40−50+2)/50=−0.16(40 - 50 + 2) / 50 = -0.16, -16 percent.

Total return is -16 percent. Price change is -20 percent. Income yield is 4 percent.

Flat price, 5 percent income

Begin $80, end $80, income $4. What is total return?

  1. Price change: (80−80)/80=0(80 - 80) / 80 = 0.
  2. Income yield: 4/80=0.054 / 80 = 0.05, 5 percent.
  3. Total return is 5 percent.

Total return is 5 percent. Price change is 0 percent. Income yield is 5 percent.

The mistake that costs the most

Comparing a price index to a total-return fund.

The fund is being credited with income the index was never given. The first sheet's 8 percent against a 5 percent price path is that mismatch on one holding.

The other error is treating this one-period 8 percent as a CAGR. CAGR needs a beginning, an ending, and a count of years, with income already in the ending value if you want it in.

Common questions

Does this reinvest the income?

No. It adds the cash to the price change once. A total-return index that reinvests on the pay date is compounding inside the period. This page is the one-period identity.

Is 8 percent a yield?

The 3 percent piece is an income yield. The 8 percent is the whole holding-period return. Yield without a named numerator is not a number anyone can use.

What if income is zero?

Then total return equals the price change. The third sheet with a flat price would print 0.

Keep reading

This page is educational material, not financial advice. The figures come from the formula shown and assume the inputs you enter hold for the whole term. Your own rate, fees, taxes and timing will differ, so treat the output as arithmetic to check a decision against, not as a recommendation.