Terms -Dividend Yield

Dividend Yield

DEFINITION of 'Dividend Yield'

A financial ratio that shows how much a company pays out in dividends each year relative to its share price. In the absence of any capital gains, the dividend yield is the return on investment for a stock. Dividend yield is calculated as follows:

Dividend yield is a way to measure how much cash flow you are getting for each dollar invested in an equity position - in other words, how much "bang for your buck" you are getting from dividends.

Investors who require a minimum stream of cash flow from their investment portfolio can secure this cash flow by investing in stocks paying relatively high, stable dividend yields.

To better explain the concept, refer to this dividend yield example: If two companies both pay annual dividends of $1 per share, but ABC company's stock is trading at $20 while XYZ company's stock is trading at $40, then ABC has a dividend yield of 5% while XYZ is only yielding 2.5%. Thus, assuming all other factors are equivalent, an investor looking to supplement his or her income would likely prefer ABC's stock over that of XYZ.

VAB -Canadian Bond ETF

Terms- All Cap Fund

All-Cap Fund

DEFINITION of 'All-Cap Fund'

A stock mutual fund that invests in equity securities without regard to whether a company is characterized as small, medium or large.

The term "cap" is shorthand for capitalization. The investment community measures a company's size by its market capitalization, which is calculated by multiplying the number of a company's outstanding shares by its current stock price.

There is no universal consensus on the exact definitions of the various market caps, but the following parameters are a good approximation:

Giant or Mega Cap: Above $200 billion
Large Cap: From $10 billion to $200 billion
Mid Cap: From $2 billion to $10 billion
Small Cap: From $300 million to $2 billion
Micro Cap: Less than $300 million

These designations inform mutual fund investors about the investment focus of the fund in terms of company size. In the case of an all-cap fund, the portfolio manager has complete freedom to invest in companies of any size.

Because of the inclusive nature of its holdings, a total stock market index fund would have an all-cap portfolio.

Terms -Yield on Cost

Yield On Cost - YOC

DEFINITION of 'Yield On Cost - YOC'

The annual dividend rate of a security divided by the average cost basis of the investments. It shows the dividend yield of the original investment. If the number of shares owned by the investor does not change, the yield on cost will increase if the company increases the dividend it pays to shareholders; otherwise it will remain the same.

To calculate yield on cost for a stock, an investor must divide the stock's annual dividend by the average cost basis per share and multiple the resulting number by 100 (to get a percentage).

For example, an investor who purchased 10 shares of stock at $15 and 20 shares at $18 would have an average cost basis of $17/share ($15*10 + $18*20)/(10 + 20). If the annual dividend is $0.90 per share, the yield on cost would be 5.29% ($0.90/$17 * 100).

INVESTOPEDIA EXPLAINS 'Yield On Cost - YOC'

Because the yield on cost depends on the price paid for the investment, the same stock portfolio can have a different yield on cost if shares are purchased over a period of time. Many investors focus instead on current yield when comparing the dividends of different stocks.

Finance4RetiredFolk

Wednesday, June 10, 2015