SCHD Stock Return Calculator

Define the holding-period experiment

This calculator models one purchase at a reported daily close and a valuation at another close, using FMP data. It permits fractional shares and leaves distributions as cash or receivables. It does not reproduce broker fills, reinvestment purchases, tax withholding, trading fees or a benchmark comparison.

Choose dates and verify the actual closes

1. Enter a positive dollar amount up to 1 trillion. This changes the modeled dollars, not the percentage return.
2. Choose a purchase date from October 20, 2011 onward and a later valuation date no later than today.
3. The first available close on or after purchase and last available close on or before valuation are used. Check the actual dates displayed. Gaps above seven calendar days at either boundary stop the calculation.
4. Review price change, distribution entitlements, paid/receivable amounts and the chart together. The chart ends at the same modeled wealth as the summary.

Avoid double-counting distributions

FMP describes its full daily-price endpoint as split-adjusted but not dividend-adjusted. This page uses its close field exclusively and adds provider-adjusted dividend amounts separately. It does not choose adjClose opportunistically; adding cash dividends to an already dividend-adjusted series could count their effect twice.

SCHD underwent a 3-for-1 split in October 2024. The calculated share count is on the provider-adjusted basis. It may differ from the historical number printed on a trade confirmation. Price and distribution adjustments must be consistent; compare questionable records with the fund and your broker.

Ex-dividend entitlement and payment timing

A purchase at the close of an ex-dividend date does not earn that distribution. Eligible ex-dates must be strictly after the modeled purchase and on or before valuation. The model adds the distribution to wealth at that ex-date; it is a receivable until the reported payment date, then cash. Selling at the close on an ex-date still leaves that entitlement with the modeled holder.

For an illustrative $1,000 purchase at a split-adjusted close of $10, the model holds 100 adjusted shares. At a later $11 close, with a $0.20 eligible distribution, modeled wealth is $1,120 and return is 12%. If payment occurs after valuation, $20 is receivable rather than cash received. If the purchase itself occurred on that ex-date, that payment is excluded and return is 10%. These are arithmetic examples, not SCHD observations.

Return formulas and interpretation

Adjusted shares = investment / purchase close. Ending wealth = adjusted shares × valuation close + eligible adjusted distributions × adjusted shares. Modeled return = ending wealth / investment − 1. Annualized wealth change = (ending wealth / investment)^(365.25 / elapsed calendar days) − 1.

Annualization does not mean distributions were reinvested or that each year earned the displayed rate. Very short periods can yield extreme annualized values. The chart carries cash and receivables without interest and does not measure an official fund total-return series.

Data coverage and fund sources

FMP coverage may omit or revise historical records. Missing adjusted amounts or payment dates in returned eligible records stop the calculation, but the tool cannot detect every absent distribution. Daily prices are not live market executions; dividend responses are cached by the backend for one hour.

SCHD seeks to track the total return of the Dow Jones U.S. Dividend 100 Index before fees and expenses. It is exposed to price losses and changing distributions. No historical growth rate, holding or asset-size claim is needed to interpret this calculation.

• Schwab SCHD fund page: objective, inception, split and distributions.
• FMP data FAQ: split-only versus dividend-adjusted prices.
• FMP dividend endpoint: dates and adjusted dividend fields.
• Investor.gov: ex-dividend dates: entitlement timing.