Forward Dividend Yield

We'll take this one in stages, like hiking up a pyramid.

A dividend is a payment made by a company to its shareholders. Typically, these happen on a quarterly basis and represent a way a company can distribute its profits among its owners.

A dividend yield relates a company's dividend payment to its current stock price. It represents the percentage of the share price that will be returned to the holder in the form of dividends.

A forward dividend yield is a subset of this calculation. It adds up a year's worth of dividends and relates that to the company's share price. It says, "if you were to hold this stock for a full year, this is the percentage of the company's share price you'd get back as a dividend."