What Are Dividends Per Share?

By Jeremy Bowman – Updated Aug 7, 2025 at 8:57 PM

Key Points

Dividends per share help investors gauge earnings from stocks issuing periodic payments.
Valuation models like the Gordon growth model use dividends to estimate stock worth.
Evaluating dividend safety is crucial, avoiding high-yield traps linked to increased risks.

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A businessperson holding a stopwatch behind ascending stacks of coins. — Image source: Getty Images

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Cash Flow

Cash flow is how we measure the actual money flowing through a business that can sometimes be hidden behind complexities.

Total dividends paid out are also included on the cash flow statement and help investors assess a company's capital allocation. However, if you're an individual shareholder and want to understand how much you're being paid from dividends, you need to be able to calculate the dividends per share.

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Dividend Payments

The distribution of a company's profits to its shareholders. Dividends are usually paid in cash but sometimes in company stock, as well.

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About the Author

Jeremy Bowman has been a contributing Motley Fool stock market analyst, covering technology, consumer goods, and macroeconomic trends since 2011. Before The Motley Fool, Jeremy was a newspaper reporter, restaurant manager, and English teacher abroad. He holds a bachelor’s degree in English from Colorado College and a master’s degree in business administration from American University. One of his Motley Fool headlines was briefly featured on Late Night with Stephen Colbert.

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Jeremy Bowman has positions in Home Depot. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Home Depot. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.