Guess how much Woolworths shares have paid in dividends over the last 5 years

Woolworths Group Ltd (ASX: WOW) shares are well known to offer decent dividends.

Indeed, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) company has been paying out a portion of its profits to shareholders since it listed on the ASX in 1993.

And on top of paying out regular dividends, the supermarket operator's stock has been a notably strong performer.

Over the last five years, the Woolworths share price has gained 68%, rising from $22.76 to trade at $38.34 today.

When considering that meteoric rise as well as the company's dividends, how well have Woolies investors done over the last half-decade? Let's take a look.

How much have Woolworths shares paid in dividends since 2017?

Here's a recap of all the dividends Woolworths has offered its shareholders over the half-decade just been:

All those dividends add up to a total of $4.96.

Considering the Woolworths share price has gained $15.58 in that time, long-term investors have fared remarkably well.

They've received more than $20 per share of various benefits over the years before considering last year's spin-off of Endeavour Group Ltd (ASX: EDV).

The supermarket's investors received one share in its drinks and hotels business for each stock they owned. Endeavour shares are currently trading for $7.87 apiece.

On top of that, all of Woolworths' dividends in that time were fully franked. That means some investors may have realised additional benefits from the company's payouts.

And finally, Goldman Sachs tipped Woolworths to pay out 96 cents in dividends in financial year 2022, as my Fool colleague James reported last month.

That assumably means the company's final dividend is expected to be 57 cents.

The broker also believes the supermarket giant will offer $1.18 in dividends in financial year 2023.