Do your returns include dividends?
Yes, we include dividends in historical performance and expected returns, as well as aggregated for your portfolio on the Details page. You can see individual dividend yields and information broken out where applicable in the Security Explorer page. Sometimes, the expected return of a security is lower than its dividend yield, which can be confusing. These stocks often have high dividend yields in part because their stock prices have fallen, but they have not yet cut their dividend, or because investors are otherwise worried about future price depreciation. If everyone believed they could earn a high dividend yield going forward, the price of the security would be bid up and the expected return would compress. Depending on macroeconomic and fundamental conditions, we might forecast that a stock with a stable 10% dividend yield only has a 5% expected total return, for example, meaning that we expect the share price to decline 5% even though security is paying out 10% return on the dividend. All of which is to say - dividends are important but they are not destiny, and investors should consider all factors of return when investing in stocks.
