The last five years have been a wild ride for those invested in Wesfarmers Ltd (ASX: WES) shares.
The stock rocketed from around $30 in March 2018 (accounting for the spin-out of Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL)) to a high of over $66 in August 2021. Today, it's trading at $48.44 – marking a 61.5% return.
But what happens when we factor in the company's dividends? Let's take a look.
All dividends paid to those holding Wesfarmers shares since 2018
Here are all the offerings handed to the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) retail conglomerate's shareholders over the last five years:
| Wesfarmers dividends' pay date | Type | Dividend amount |
| October 2022 | Final | $1 |
| March 2022 | Interim | 80 cents |
| October 2021 | Final | 90 cents |
| March 2021 | Interim | 88 cents |
| October 2020 | Final | 77 cents |
| October 2020 | Special | 18 cents |
| March 2020 | Interim | 75 cents |
| October 2019 | Final | 78 cents |
| April 2019 | Interim | $1 |
| April 2019 | Special | $1 |
| September 2018 | Final | $1.20 |
| April 2018 | Interim | $1.03 |
| Total: | $10.29 |
As readers can see, each Wesfarmers share has yielded around $10.29 of dividends since March 2018.
That means our figurative parcel has likely provided $1,708.14 of passive income in that time.
Of course, it's also worth remembering the spin-out of Coles Group Ltd (ASX: COL) in late 2018. Wesfarmers shareholders received 1 Coles share for each stock in the parent company they held. The Coles share price is currently $17.59.
Not to mention, all the dividends offered by the ASX 200 icon in that time have been fully franked. That means they could have brought additional benefits at tax time.
Wesfarmers shares currently boast a 3.72% dividend yield.
Excitingly, the company's next dividend will be paid in a little over a week. Its 88 cents per share interim dividend will hit shareholders' accounts from 28 March.
