Capital Gains Yield Calculator
Calculate capital gains yield (CGY), dividend yield, total return, and annualized CGY from purchase and sale prices. Free online tool.
About
Capital gains yield measures the price appreciation of an investment as a percentage of its original purchase price. It isolates the return attributable to price movement alone, excluding dividends or interest. The formula CGY = (P1 − P0) ÷ P0 appears simple, but misapplication leads to distorted portfolio performance metrics. Confusing CGY with total return overstates or understates actual investment performance depending on dividend policy. This calculator separates capital gains yield from dividend yield to produce an accurate decomposition of total return.
For holdings spanning multiple years, annualized CGY corrects for compounding effects. A 40% gain over 5 years is not 8% per year. The annualized formula (1 + CGY)1/t − 1 accounts for this. Pro tip: CGY can be negative. A declining stock price produces a negative yield, which must be weighed against any dividend income to determine if the total position is profitable.
Formulas
The capital gains yield quantifies the price-only return on an investment. It is computed as the percentage change in price relative to the original purchase cost.
Dividend yield captures income return separately from price movement.
Total return combines both components into a single metric.
For multi-period holdings, annualized CGY removes the distortion of compounding over time.
Where P0 = purchase (beginning) price, P1 = sale or current (ending) price, D = total dividends received over the holding period, t = holding period in years, CGY = capital gains yield (decimal), DY = dividend yield (decimal).
Reference Data
| Scenario | Purchase Price (P0) | Current Price (P1) | Dividends (D) | Years (t) | CGY | Dividend Yield | Total Return | Annualized CGY |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Blue-chip stock (moderate growth) | $50.00 | $65.00 | $6.00 | 3 | 30.00% | 12.00% | 42.00% | 9.14% |
| Growth stock (no dividend) | $120.00 | $210.00 | $0.00 | 2 | 75.00% | 0.00% | 75.00% | 32.29% |
| Declining stock with dividend | $80.00 | $68.00 | $4.80 | 1 | −15.00% | 6.00% | −9.00% | −15.00% |
| Real estate investment | $250,000 | $310,000 | $30,000 | 5 | 24.00% | 12.00% | 36.00% | 4.40% |
| Short-term trade | $35.50 | $38.20 | $0.00 | 0.25 | 7.61% | 0.00% | 7.61% | 33.55% |
| Penny stock (high volatility) | $2.10 | $5.80 | $0.00 | 1 | 176.19% | 0.00% | 176.19% | 176.19% |
| Bond-like equity (flat price) | $100.00 | $101.50 | $12.00 | 2 | 1.50% | 12.00% | 13.50% | 0.75% |
| ETF (index tracking) | $300.00 | $345.00 | $9.00 | 1 | 15.00% | 3.00% | 18.00% | 15.00% |
| Crypto asset (high growth) | $8,000 | $42,000 | $0.00 | 4 | 425.00% | 0.00% | 425.00% | 51.33% |
| Total loss scenario | $15.00 | $0.00 | $0.50 | 1 | −100.00% | 3.33% | −96.67% | −100.00% |
| Breakeven (price unchanged) | $75.00 | $75.00 | $3.75 | 1 | 0.00% | 5.00% | 5.00% | 0.00% |
| Large-cap dividend aristocrat | $140.00 | $158.00 | $16.80 | 4 | 12.86% | 12.00% | 24.86% | 3.08% |