Google Finance Dividend Yield: A Guide

If you're an investor, you know that dividend yield is an important metric to track. But how do you get stock dividend data on Google Sheets? In this guide, we will show you how to do just that! We'll walk you through the steps of setting up a Google Sheets spreadsheet and importing the stock dividend data you need into it. So whether you're just starting out in investing or are a seasoned pro, this guide is for you!

How to get dividend yield and dividend payment data in Google Sheets

Analyzing dividend stock data on your Google Sheets spreadsheet is very helpful because you can track your dividend stocks, find new attractive stocks and see how your dividend-paying stocks perform over time. This is valuable information when making investment decisions.

Unfortunately, there is no native way to access stock dividend data using Google Finance, so you either have to scrape it from a website like Yahoo Finance using complex import HTML formulas or get it from Wisesheets in a simple function call. We will go over the second method in detail so you can get the dividend data you need to make better stock investments faster.

Dividend yield and dividend payment amount on Google Finance?

Since there is no way to get dividend stock data on Google Sheets using the Google Finance function, the best way is to use a Google Sheets add-on called Wisesheets.

The great thing about this add-on is that getting historical and real-time dividend data on Google Sheets is very easy.

Real-time dividend yield

If you are looking to get the real-time dividend yield of any stock listed across 50+ covered exchanges, you can do so very simply by entering the function =WISE("ticker", "dividend yield", "ttm").

For example, if you want to get Apple's current dividend yield, you can do so by entering =WISE("AAPL", "dividend yield", "ttm")

As you can see, the function returns the latest dividend yield based on the last dividend payment and current stock price. You can refresh this number by changing the ticker, pressing enter, or using the refresh live data button at the top right of the Wisesheets add-on.

Historical dividend yield on Google Sheets

Are you looking for the dividend yield of a particular stock for different years or quarters? You can do so by entering the function in the following way =WISE("ticker", "dividend yield", year) or =WISE("ticker", "dividend yield", year, quarter).

For example, to get Apple's dividend yield for the 2020 quarter 2 report, all you have to do is enter =WISE("AAPL", "dividend yield", 2020, "q2")

This will return the dividend yield based on Apple's closing price when the financial statements were released.

Historical dividend payments on Google Sheets

All historical dividend payments

Getting all historical dividend payment information on Google Sheets is even easier. All you have to do is enter in any cell of your spreadsheet =WISEPRICE("ticker", "dividend").

For example, to get Microsoft's past dividend payments, you can simply do =WISEPRICE("MSFT", "dividend")

As you can see, this returns the ex-date, dividend payment, payment date, and declaration date with data going back to the 1980s. This allows you to perform any calculations you like, such as dividend growth, dividend yield at different periods, and overall dividend trend if you decide to graph it.

Yearly dividend payments

Different stocks and ETFs may have different payment periods like quarterly, monthly, etc. The good news is that you can quickly get the sum of the dividend payments made in a particular year or years. You can do this by entering this on any cell of your spreadsheet =WISE("ticker", "dividend", year/s).

For example, to get the sum of the dividend payments made by Apple in 2021, all you need to enter is =WISE("aapl", "dividend", 2021).

This makes it easy for you to track the dividend payments you have received in the past from the companies you have invested in or analyze dividend payments faster.

Yearly adjusted dividend payments

Different investment vehicles, including stocks and ETFs, may have dividends that are subject to adjustments due to various factors like stock splits, special dividends, or corporate actions. Fortunately, you can track these adjusted dividends easily. Simply input the following into any cell of your spreadsheet =WISE("ticker", "adjusted dividend", year/s).

To illustrate, if you wish to find out the adjusted dividend payments made by Microsoft in 2021, you should input =WISE("msft", "adjusted dividend", 2021).

This convenient method ensures that you always have accurate and up-to-date information on the adjusted dividends of your investments. Whether you're revisiting past investments or performing in-depth financial analyses.

Quarterly or monthly dividend payments

Many stocks and ETFs provide dividends on a more frequent basis, such as quarterly or monthly. These periodic payments can be a steady source of income, and monitoring them closely is crucial for both short-term budgeting and long-term financial planning. To easily extract these periodic dividend payments into your spreadsheet, utilize the following command =WISE("ticker", "dividend", "lq").

In this case, LQ stands for the last dividend payment made. You can subsequently use LQ-1 to get the previous, LQ-2 for the one before and so on.

For instance, to determine the last dividend payment made by Verizon, your entry should be =WISE("vz", "dividend", "lq").

With this functionality, you can effortlessly compile a more detailed account of your investment returns. Whether you're relying on these dividends for monthly expenses or reinvesting them to harness the power of compound interest, having a granular view of these payments enables more informed financial decisions.

Free dividend discount model template

To help you get started, we've created a free dividend discount model template you can use on your own Excel or Google Sheets spreadsheet. This template includes the dividend discount model formula and allows you to input a company's data to find its intrinsic value.

You can access the free template by clicking here.

With this template, you can change the ticker and automatically get the company's history of dividend payments and historical dividend growth. This allows you to easily change the required rate of return to assess how much you should pay for a particular dividend stock. At this time, it enables you to screen for dividend stocks where the dividend yield is higher than the required rate of return.

Altogether, this represents a powerful tool to give you an edge when looking at many dividend stocks and save you countless hours of time getting the data and making calculations.

For more information on the template, check out this article that goes in-depth on the template and dividend discount model.

*Note in order to take advantage of this template, you need a Wisesheets account to get the dividend data on your spreadsheet. You can get your free account here.

What is a dividend yield, and how is it calculated

A dividend yield is a ratio that shows how much a company pays out in dividends each year relative to its share price.

For example, if a company has a share price of $100 and it pays out $0.50 in dividends per share each quarter, its dividend yield would be 0.50/100 = 0.005 or 0.50%.

The dividend yield can be a valuable metric to compare different stocks, especially when you are trying to income from your investments. This is because a higher dividend yield usually means a higher return on investment (ROI), all else being equal.

However, it is essential to remember that the dividend yield is just one metric, and you should never invest in a stock solely based on its dividend yield. 

When analyzing a stock, you should always look at the company's fundamentals, such as its earnings, cash flow, balance sheet, and valuation.

Why dividends are important to investors

Dividends are important to investors for a few reasons.

First, dividends provide a source of income that can be reinvested back into the stock or used to pay expenses. This can be especially important for retirees who depend on their investment income to cover their living expenses.

Second, dividend-paying stocks tend to outperform non-dividend-paying stocks over the long run. This is because dividend payments force companies to be more disciplined with their cash flow and use it more efficiently.

Lastly, dividends can act as a cushion during market downturns. When the stock market crashes, dividend payments can provide a source of income that can help investors weather the storm.

In summary, dividends are important to investors because they provide a source of income, force companies to be more efficient with their cash flow, and act as a cushion during market downturns.

How to find the best dividend stocks using Google Sheets

The best strategy for finding high-quality dividend stocks on Google Sheets is to use the various methods of getting dividend data on your spreadsheet using Wisesheets to screen these stocks in the following ways.

The first way is to find companies with a higher dividend yield than the discount rate. This means that the company's dividend payments are expected to exceed the required rate of return and thus be profitable dividend investments. In simple terms, if you want to achieve a 5% return and the yield is 6%, then you know that this investment meets the criteria.

The second way is to find companies whose stock price is trading below the present value of its future dividend payments. This means that the company is undervalued based on its expected future dividend payments and, therefore, represents an attractive buying opportunity where you can buy a stock worth $1 dollar for $0.80, as an example.

Once you have found some companies that look attractive, you will need to do some further research to determine if they are indeed suitable investments. This research should include an analysis of the company's financial statements, competitive position, and management team. Check out this article for more information.

Now you know some tangible ways to find high-quality dividend stocks using Google Sheets and Wisesheets.

The pros and cons of investing in high-yield dividend stocks

Pros:

The biggest pro of high-yield dividend stocks is that they offer the potential for higher returns. This is because you are being compensated for the extra risk you are taking.

Another pro is that these stocks can provide a source of income during retirement. This is especially true if you reinvest your dividends back into the stock.

Lastly, high-yield dividend stocks tend to be more resilient during market downturns. Again, this is because investors are looking for stocks that offer a stable source of income.

Cons:

High-yield dividend stocks tend to be more volatile than the market as a whole. This means that they are riskier investments but also have the potential for higher returns.

Another thing to consider is that high-yield dividend stocks are often mature companies with slower growth rates. This can make them less exciting to investors who are looking for high-growth stocks.

Examples of high-yield dividend stocks

Now that you know the pros and cons of high-yield dividend stocks, here are a few examples of companies that fit this description (at the time of writing).

– AT&T (T) 5.31%

– Verizon (VZ) 5.04%

– ExxonMobil (XOM) 3.55%

– Pfizer (PFE) 3.01%

– Johnson & Johnson (JNJ) 2.56%

These are just a few examples of high-yield dividend stocks. There are many other companies out there that offer attractive dividend yields. The key is to do your research and only invest in companies you understand and believe to be high-quality businesses.

Conclusion

In conclusion, getting dividend data on Google Sheets using Google Finance is not possible. However, you can get this information using the Wisesheets add-on, which provides real-time and historical dividend data for stocks across 50+ exchanges. This guide showed you how easy it is to get valuable information that can help you make better investment decisions, why it matters, and how to use it to make smarter dividend stock investments.

I hope this guide was helpful. If you have any questions, please leave a comment below.

Happy investing!