If I'd bought $5,000 of NAB shares at the start of this year, guess how much I'd have now

If I'd snapped up $5,000 worth of National Australia Bank Ltd (ASX: NAB) shares on the first session of 2022, I'd be pretty happy with my buy right now. Here's how my investment would have worked out so far.

NAB shares outperform in 2022

If I had bought $5,000 worth of NAB shares on 4 January, I likely would have bought 170 shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) bank for $29.40 apiece.

That would have started off as a winning buy. The NAB share price launched upwards to a 52-week high in April, topping out at $33.75.

At that point, my initial $5,000 investment would have held a value of $5,737.50 – not too shabby for just four months.

However, the high didn't last long. The bank's stock plummeted to a low of $25.43 in mid-June amid the Reserve Bank of Australia's first 0.5% rate hike.

At that moment, my imagined 34 shares would have commanded just $4,323.10 on the market.

Fortunately, things have since turned around for the NAB share price. It's trading at $31.28 at the time of writing.

That means my figurative investment would be worth $5,317.60 right now. That's a decent 11-month return and we haven't even considered dividends yet.

What about dividends?

NAB has declared two dividends in 2022.

The first, its interim dividend, was worth 73 cents per share and was paid in July.

The bank announced its final dividend -worth 78 cents per share ­– earlier this month. That will be paid out in December.

That means an investor who held 170 shares in NAB this year will likely receive a total of $256.70 in dividends this year.

What might the future bring for NAB shares?

While past performance doesn't guarantee future performance, the outlook for NAB shares is bright, according to Goldman Sachs.

The broker thinks the bank can pay out $1.73 per share in dividends this fiscal year and $1.78 in the next.

It also tips the stock to lift to $35.41 – a potential 13% upside – and slapped it with a buy rating.

Thus, if I had invested $5,000 in NAB shares at the start of 2022, I'd still be holding onto my investment today.