Using Google Finance & Google Spreadsheet For Dividend Investment » Tawcan (2024)

Update:1 As per requests, I have created a Google Finance dividend portfolio template available to download. You can use the template for Google Finance Dividend.

Update 2: As of March 2018, Google Finance has changed its formatting. Therefore, the old formula to pull dividend & yield info from Google Finance no longer works.

I have updated the formula to pull dividend & yield info from Yahoo Finance instead.

Update 3: While ImportXML still works. It seems to get errors from time to time due to how the webpages are set up.

I have updated the Google Finance dividend portfolio template with a slightly revised function that’d to the exact same thing. This new function should be able to pull dividend info reliably. This should be very useful for any dividend investor.

Update 4: The ImportFromWeb add-on has a monthly pull limit so it’s not very reliable. I have decided to utilize ImportHTML function instead.

Getting started on dividend investing is easy. Once you have a few dividend paying stocks in your dividend portfolio it can get tricky to keep track of your cost basis and various information. This is where using spreadsheets come in very handy.

I love using spreadsheets when it comes to tracking various items, so it shouldn’t surprise you that I use a spreadsheet to track our dividend portfolio.

Thanks to Google Drive or more specifically Google Spreadsheet, tracking our dividend portfolio and dividend income using a dividend spreadsheet has made life a lot easier.

I’m no longer tied to one computer, I can update the spreadsheet anywhere, on a laptop or on my smartphone, as long as there’s an internet connection.

Hence, I have created a Google Finance dividend spreadsheet template.

Table of Contents

Dividend Yield and Dividend Amount using Google Finance

Old Formula:

Using Google Spreadsheet with dividend info to track our dividend portfolio

Old Formula

New Formula

Even Newer Formula

Tracking monthly dividend income

Learning about dividend investing

Google Spreadsheet and Google Finance for tracking dividend portfolio & dividend income

Google Spreadsheet has a very useful function called “GOOGLEFINANCE” which allows you to fetch current and historical security information from Google Finance. The function supports a lot of syntaxes such as price, volume, PE ratio, and market cap. For more information on all the syntax supported you can take a look here.

My biggest complaint with GOOGLEFINANCE function is that it does not have any syntax for querying the most important information when it comes to dividend investing – dividend amount and dividend yield.

I have no idea why parameters like Google Finance dividend yield and Google Finance dividend amount aren’t part of the GOOGLEFIANCE function.

For the longest time, I was updating the dividend information manually. This was easy to keep track of when we had a small portfolio with only a few stocks. As the dividend portfolio size and number of positions increased, it became more tedious to keep track of all the dividend information.

For me, I like to automate the dividend spreadsheet as much as possible, so I’ve been looking for a way to track the dividend portfolio on Google Spreadsheet automatically.

Dividend Yield and Dividend Amount using Google Finance

After a bit of investigation, I found a way to automate the dividend amount and dividend yield on Google Spreadsheet. Unfortunately, it’s not quite the same as a simple parameter as Google Finance Dividend, Google Finance Dividend Yield, or Google Finance Google History.

The trick is to use ImportXML function. The function allowsmeto pull data from any various structured data types including XML, HTML, CSV, TVS, and RSS feeds. By using this function Ican pull feeds from Google Finance directly and show dividend amount and dividend yield.

Old Formula:

=ImportXML(concatenate(“http://finance.google.com/finance?q=”,”NAME”), “//td[@data-snapfield=’latest_dividend-dividend_yield’]/following-sibling::*”)

If I want to query dividend info for Apple (AAPL) the formula would look like this:

=ImportXML(concatenate(“http://finance.google.com/finance?q=”,”AAPL”), “//td[@data-snapfield=’latest_dividend-dividend_yield’]/following-sibling::*”)

If Iwant to query a Canadian stock like Royal Bank I’dsimply replace “AAPL” with “RY.TO”. If Iwant to query a REIT likeRioCan, I’d replace “AAPL” with “REI.UN”. For REITs or income trust, there’s no need to populate “.TO” at the end. The formula would look like this:

Dividend Yield and Dividend Amount

Since Google has changed how Google Finance is structured, the old formula (below) no longer works (Boo!). We have to find another way to pull the dividend and yield information elsewhere. I searched the web and found that Yahoo Finance to be a reliable source to pull the dividend and yield data from.

We are still using the ImportXML function. For some reason, I couldn’t insert the XPath directory as part of the formula, so we need to add the Xpath in a separate cell then refer to it in the formula.

New Formula

In a separate cell copy//*[@id=”quote-summary”]/div[2]/table/tbody/tr[6]/td[2]

Then use this

=split(IMPORTXML(concatenate(“https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/”,NAME), ‘XPath cell’),“()”)

Where NAME is the stock symbol and the ‘XPath cell” would be the cell your Xpath is in. For example, if your NAME cell is in B1 and Xpath cell is in C10, then the formula would look like

=split(IMPORTXML(concatenate(“https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/”,B1),$C$10),“()”)

Similar to Google Finance, Yahoo Finance puts Div/Yield info together.

If you query AAPL, the output will be 0.47/(1.96%).

The first number 0.47 corresponds to the dividend amount received each payment period, while the second number 1.96 corresponds to the current dividend yield percentage.

Since the dividend amount and dividend yield percentage are combined together, I usedSplitfunction to further split the ImportXML output.

A quick note is GOOGLEFINANCE and Yahoo Finance use different symbols for stocks with . in their symbols.

For example Rogers is RCI.B for Google Finanance but RIC-B.TO for Yahoo Finance. The easiest way is to manually enter the symbol in the ImportXML formula and remove the concatenate function. The formula would look like:

=split(IMPORTXML(“https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/RCI-B.TO”,$C$10),”()”)

Even Newer Formula

Since ImportXML does not pull the data consistently, I decided to utilize ImportHTML instead. So the “new” formula would look like the following:

=SPLIT(INDEX(IMPORTHTML(concatenate(“https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/RCI-B.TO”),”table”,2),6,2),” “)

Using Google Spreadsheet with dividend info to track our dividend portfolio

How do Iuse this information to track our dividend portfolio and dividend income?

I’m glad that you asked!Below is a sample tracker that I put together. I like to keep life easy and only track the important stuff. The dividend portfolio you see on this blog is a simplified version. Ourpersonal spreadsheet is very close to the sample tracker that you see here.

Update: As per requests, I have created a Google spreadsheet dividend portfolio template available to download. Best of all, it’s free!

Here is the syntax I used for querying cell items:

To get the market value we use the following syntax
=GoogleFinance(B2,”PRICE”)*C2

For Div$ and Yield % columns I’m using the following syntax to split the XML imported data into twofields.

Old Formula

=split(ImportXML(concatenate(“http://finance.google.com/finance?q=”,B2), “//td[@data-snapfield=’latest_dividend-dividend_yield’]/following-sibling::*”),”/”)

New Formula

Xpath://*[@id=”quote-summary”]/div[2]/table/tbody/tr[6]/td[2]

=split(IMPORTXML(concatenate(“https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/”,B2), ‘XPath cell’),“()”)

With this dividend portfolio tracker, I’m ableto track ourdividend portfolio and dividend income very easily and able to geta quick summary of what’s going on. This is the beauty of Google spreadsheet!

Note: If you are trying to track ETFs, you need to use a different Xpath.

For ETFs, use Xpath: //*[@id=”quote-summary”]/div[2]/table/tbody/tr[4]/td[2]

Even Newer Formula

Rather than relying on Xpath and using ImportXML, I decided to use ImportHTML function for an easier data pulling. So the new formula is

=SPLIT(INDEX(IMPORTHTML(concatenate(“https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/”,B2),”table”,2),6,2),” “)

As you can see, rather than calling /div[2]/table/tbody/tr[6]/td[2], ImportHTML calls table 2, 6, 2 which is more or less the same as the Xpath just in a slightly different formate.

Similar, for ETF, you’d use the following formula and pointing to a different section of the table:

=SPLIT(INDEX(IMPORTHTML(concatenate(“https://finance.yahoo.com/quote/”,B2),”table”,2),4,2),” “)

Tracking monthly dividend income

For tracking monthly dividend I use a very simple spreadsheet like the one below. Usually, the dividend tracker is a separate sheet within the same spreadsheet document.

By having everything in the same document, I canadd another column called Div Rx in the portfolio tracker andlink the dividend total for each position.

There are many ways to track a dividend portfolio. I like to keep it simple and the above methods work for us.Automation makes tracking the dividend portfolioa breeze.

How do you track your portfolio? In case you want to download the template for free, please head over here.

Learning about dividend investing

In case you want to learn more about dividend investing, here are some articles you might find useful.

The first step when it comes to dividend growth investing and building yourdividend portfoliois to determine how tostart investing in dividend-paying stocks.

Eliminating stocks by looking at the different financial numbers is important but it is just as important tolearn how to read the annual and quarterly reports. For Canadian dividend investors, you must understand how to build your portfolio so it can be astax efficient as possible.

For further reading, please take a look at the following two FAQ’s I have put together:

  • Dividend Investing FAQ(Mostly for Canadians but works for other countries too).

Also check out the best Canadian dividend stocks where I hand picked some of the top Canadian dividend stocks that I think every Canadian dividend investor should hold in their portfolio.

Using Google Finance & Google Spreadsheet For Dividend Investment » Tawcan (2024)

FAQs

Can GOOGLEFINANCE show dividends? ›

GOOGLEFINANCE only provides basic information such as price. Unfortunately, you can't get dividend stock data with this function… but Google Sheets has another ace in the hole called IMPORTXML. IMPORTXML function is a built-in function to import structured data from webpages.

How do I pull dividend data from Google Sheets? ›

'Dividend Data' Menu The 'Dividend Data' Menu can be found in Google Spreadsheet Menu under 'Add-ons'. It consists of four elements: 'Dividend Data' opens a side bar where the user can select which dividend Data to retrieve and how to display it.

How much do I need to invest to make $5 000 a month in dividends? ›

In order to make $5000 a month in dividends, you'll need to invest approximately $2,000,000 in dividend stocks. The exact amount will depend on the dividend yields for the stocks you buy for your portfolio. Take a closer look at your budget and decide how much money you can set aside each month to grow your portfolio.

Do Google stock charts include dividends? ›

The simple truth is that Google Finance and Yahoo Finance don't include dividends when reporting an investment's historical performance.

How do I know if a company has paid dividends? ›

Sites like CNBC, Morningstar, The Wall Street Journal, and Investopedia are all great resources available for researching dividend data. For example, on Investopedia's Markets Today page, you can use the stock search tool to enter the company name or ticker symbol that you're researching.

Can Excel pull dividend data? ›

Historical stock dividend payments in Excel

Getting historical dividend payment data is super easy. All you have to do is enter =WISEPRICE("ticker", "dividend"). For example, to see the dividend payments Coca-Cola has made to shareholders, you need to enter =WISEPRICE("co*kE", "dividend").

Is there an app to calculate dividend payout? ›

DivTracker is the easiest way to track your dividend income. View insights on your payouts, see your portfolios in one place, visualize your annual and monthly dividends. DivTracker is the best dividend tracker which helps you track and visualise your dividend income.

Can you pull data from Google Sheets? ›

Get data from other sheets in your spreadsheet

Select a cell. Type = followed by the sheet name, an exclamation point, and the cell being copied. For example, =Sheet1! A1 or ='Sheet number two'!

What is the best free dividend tracker for Canada? ›

With the ability to automatically track dividends and see the impact of dividends on your returns, Sharesight is the best free dividend tracker for self-directed investors. As a comprehensive online portfolio tracking solution, Sharesight also has a range of powerful features that extend beyond dividend tracking.

What is the formula for dividend tracking in Google Sheets? ›

Historical dividend yield on Google Sheets

You can do so by entering the function in the following way =WISE("ticker", "dividend yield", year) or =WISE("ticker", "dividend yield", year, quarter). This will return the dividend yield based on Apple's closing price when the financial statements were released.

How do you create a dividend income portfolio? ›

Here are the six steps to guide you in setting up your portfolio:
  1. Diversify your holdings of good stocks. ...
  2. Diversify your weighting to include five to seven industries. ...
  3. Choose financial stability over growth. ...
  4. Find companies with modest payout ratios. ...
  5. Find companies with a long history of raising their dividends.

How much dividend stock do I need to make $1000 a month? ›

Look for $12,000 Per Year in Dividends

To make $1,000 per month in dividends, it's better to think in annual terms. Companies list their average yield on an annual basis, not based on monthly averages. So you can make much more sense of how much you might earn if you build your numbers around annual goals as well.

How much do you need to make $100000 in dividends? ›

The S&P 500 offers a current dividend yield of 1.6% and has delivered an average of 2.34%. That means if you want to generate $100,000 in annual passive income from a vanilla index fund, you would need $4,273,504 in assets ($100,000 divided by 2.34%).

How much money do you need to make $50000 a year off dividends? ›

According to Forbes, they typically pay measly yields of around 1.5%, which means you would need about $4 million to earn $50,000 a year in dividend payouts.

How does Google Finance calculate dividend yield? ›

'yieldpct' – The distribution yield, the sum of the prior 12 months' income distributions (stock dividends and fixed-income interest payments) and net asset value gains divided by the previous month's net asset value number.

Why does Google not give dividends? ›

Dividend-Shy Google

Still other parts of Google are focused on entirely different markets, making the company something of a technological conglomerate. That being said, one of the biggest reasons why Google does not currently pay a dividend is that it wishes to continue its expansion into new ventures.

What is Google dividend payout ratio? ›

Historical dividend payout and yield for Alphabet (GOOG) since 1971. The current TTM dividend payout for Alphabet (GOOG) as of May 08, 2023 is $0.00. The current dividend yield for Alphabet as of May 08, 2023 is 0.00%.

What is the highest dividend paying stock? ›

Comparison Results
NamePriceAnalyst Price Target
IBM International Business Machines$125.68$147.38 (17.27% Upside)
CVX Chevron$157.27$188.78 (20.04% Upside)
EOG EOG Resources$113.29$146.35 (29.18% Upside)
ET Energy Transfer$12.80$16.88 (31.87% Upside)
5 more rows

What is a good dividend yield? ›

What Is a Good Dividend Yield? Yields from 2% to 6% are generally considered to be a good dividend yield, but there are plenty of factors to consider when deciding if a stock's yield makes it a good investment. Your own investment goals should also play a big role in deciding what a good dividend yield is for you.

How do I know if my dividends are taxable? ›

The tax rate for dividends depends on whether they are qualified or nonqualified. Taxpayers will receive a Form 1099-DIV for dividends above $10. This form is also sent to the IRS on the taxpayer's behalf. Taxpayers may need to complete Schedule B to support Form 1040 if they earn a certain amount of dividends.

What is the formula for dividends in Excel? ›

The dividend per share formula is equal to the annual dividend paid divided by the number of shares outstanding. On Excel, therefore, if you have cell B8 with the annual dividend amount and cell B9 featuring the number of outstanding shares, click on a blank cell and type “=B8/B9”.

Do dividends count as net income? ›

Stock and cash dividends do not affect a company's net income or profit. Instead, dividends impact the shareholders' equity section of the balance sheet. Dividends, whether cash or stock, represent a reward to investors for their investment in the company.

Do you have to report all dividends? ›

If you receive over $1,500 of taxable ordinary dividends, you must report these dividends on Schedule B (Form 1040), Interest and Ordinary Dividends. If you receive dividends in significant amounts, you may be subject to the Net Investment Income Tax (NIIT) and may have to pay estimated tax to avoid a penalty.

How do I get all dividend statements? ›

Go to the Profile screen, and tap on Portfolio in the Console menu. Tap on the desired stock and then tap on View dividends. Still need help?

How do I find out how often I have to pay dividends? ›

The Declaration Date

In the declaration, the company discloses the amount of the dividend and the ex-dividend, record, and payment dates. Companies often issue dividend declarations on a regular quarterly, semi-annual, or annual schedule. Dividend declarations often accompany earnings announcements.

What is the dividend calculator? ›

Forbes Advisor's Dividend Calculator helps investors understand precisely how much they're earning in dividends over a period of time, factoring in the company's stock price, number of shares owned, holding periods, annual dividend yield, tax rates and increases in the company's dividend payouts and stock price.

Can Excel read Google Sheets? ›

Can You Open a Google Sheet in Excel? The Google Sheets application has a built-in export mechanism (as do all the Google Suite apps), so you can quickly export a Google Sheet document and open it in Excel.

Is data in Google Sheets Secure? ›

Your content is stored securely

When you create a file on Google Docs, Sheets & Slides and share it, it is stored securely in our world-class data centres. Data is encrypted in-transit and at-rest.

Can Google Sheets pull data from a PDF? ›

To convert a PDF to Google Sheets, the computer must extract the data from the instructions that the PDF contains. Data extraction takes place when one converts a PDF to Google Docs, which allows the computer to turn the PDF file into a format that Google Drive programs can understand.

What is the highest paying Canadian dividend stock? ›

Top high dividend stocks in Canada
Dividend StockDescription
Fortis (TSX:FTS)Utility company serving 3.4 million customers.
BCE Inc. (TSX:BCE)Wireless and internet provider with roughly 10 million customers.
Enbridge (TSX:ENB)Midstream oil company that transports 30% of oil produced in North America.
May 3, 2023

Which Canadian banks pay the best dividends? ›

Canadian (TSX) Banks Dividend Stocks
CompanyLast PriceDiv Yield
CWBCanadian Western BankCA$24.975.1%
BMOBank of MontrealCA$117.984.8%
TDToronto-Dominion BankCA$82.274.7%
RYRoyal Bank of CanadaCA$127.194.2%
6 more rows

How do I avoid dividend tax in Canada? ›

Having little or no other income, you may be able to receive dividends from a Canadian corporation “tax- free.” Under certain circ*mstances, the dividend tax credit and the basic personal amount (and other tax credits you may be entitled to) reduce the taxes on dividends to zero.

How do you make $1000 dividends? ›

To have a perfect portfolio to generate $1000/month in dividends, one should have at least 30 stocks in at least 10 different sectors. No stock should not be more than 3.33% of your portfolio. If each stock generates around $400 in dividend income per year, 30 of each will generate $12,000 a year or $1000/month.

How much money do I need to make 2000 a month in dividends? ›

How Much Do You Need To Invest To Make $2,000 A Month In Dividends? Therefore, $600,000 is how much you will need to invest to make $2,000 a month in dividends. Assuming your portfolio's dividend yield is 4%.

How to make $2,000 a year in dividends? ›

In order to make $2000 a month in dividends, you'll need to invest approximately $960,000 in dividend stocks. The exact amount will depend on the dividend yields for the stocks you buy for your portfolio. Take a closer look at your budget and decide how much money you can set aside each month to grow your portfolio.

Where can I see my dividend income? ›

Go to the Profile screen, and tap on Portfolio in the Console menu. Tap on the desired stock and then tap on View dividends. Still need help?

How do you show dividend income? ›

The taxpayer should report such income under the head IFOS while filing an Income Tax Return. This quarterly filing is required in order to avoid advance tax penalties on dividend income. Dividend income is currently excluded from the interest penalty imposed by Section 234(C) for non-payment of advance tax.

How do you show dividends received on a financial statement? ›

Dividends are not reported on the income statement. They would be found in a statement of retained earnings or statement of stockholders' equity once declared and in a statement of cash flows when paid.

Where can I Recognise dividends received? ›

Investors can view the total amount of dividends paid for the reporting period in the financing section of the statement of cash flows. The cash flow statement shows how much cash is entering or leaving a company. In the case of dividends paid, it would be listed as a use of cash for the period.

How do I avoid paying tax on dividends? ›

Options include owning dividend-paying stocks in a tax-advantaged retirement account or 529 plan. You can also avoid paying capital gains tax altogether on certain dividend-paying stocks if your income is low enough. A financial advisor can help you employ dividend investing in your portfolio.

How much dividend income is tax free? ›

Your “qualified” dividends may be taxed at 0% if your taxable income falls below $41,676 (if single or Married Filing Separately), $55,801 (if Head of Household), or $83,351 (if (Married Filing Jointly or qualifying widow/widower) (tax year 2022).

At what rate are dividends taxed? ›

Key Takeaways. Qualified dividends must meet special requirements issued by the IRS. The maximum tax rate for qualified dividends is 20%, with a few exceptions for real estate, art, or small business stock. Ordinary dividends are taxed at income tax rates, which as of the 2023 tax year, maxes out at 37%.

Where do dividends go on a balance sheet? ›

A common stock dividend distributable appears in the shareholders' equity section of a balance sheet, whereas cash dividends distributable appear in the liabilities section.

Does dividends go on balance sheet or income statement? ›

Cash or stock dividends distributed to shareholders are not recorded as an expense on a company's income statement. Stock and cash dividends do not affect a company's net income or profit. Instead, dividends impact the shareholders' equity section of the balance sheet.

What is the formula for dividend payout ratio? ›

The formula for calculating the dividend payout ratio is Dividends/Net Ratio, where the net ratio is calculated as (Net Profit / Net Sales) x 100. This ratio can help investors determine the company's profitability, financial health, and intention to protect shareholders' interests.

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