The last five years have been rough for the Suncorp Group Ltd (ASX: SUN) share price. Stock in the financial services conglomerate has tumbled to trade at $12.53 as of Tuesday's close.
However, looking back to May 2018, an investor sinking $9,000 into the stock likely would have snapped up 629 shares, paying $14.30 apiece.
Today, that parcel would be worth around 12% less – just $7,881.37.
For comparison, the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) has lifted 19% in that time.
Fortunately, Suncorp shares have proven to provide consistent dividends over the years. Here's how much dividend income an investor who bought into the stock five years ago has likely realised.
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All dividends paid to holders of Suncorp shares since 2018:
Here are all the dividends paid to those invested in Suncorp shares since May 2018:
| Suncorp dividends' pay date | Type | Dividend amount |
| March 2023 | Interim | 33 cents |
| September 2022 | Final | 17 cents |
| April 2022 | Interim | 23 cents |
| September 2021 | Final and special | 40 cents and 8 cents |
| April 2021 | Interim | 26 cents |
| October 2020 | Final | 10 cents |
| March 2020 | Interim | 26 cents |
| September 2019 | Final | 44 cents |
| May 2019 | Special | 8 cents |
| April 2019 | Interim | 26 cents |
| September 2018 | Final and special | 40 cents and 8 cents |
| Total: | $3.09 |
As readers can see, each Suncorp share has yielded $3.09 of dividend income over the last five years. That negates any share price losses experienced in that time.
It also means our figurative investment has provided a total of $1,943.61 in dividends over its life.
That brings its return on investment (ROI), considering both share price gains and dividend income, to 9.2%.
And that's before considering the potential benefits the payments could have brought for some investors at tax time. All the dividends paid to those holding Suncorp shares over the last five years have been fully franked.
Right now, Suncorp shares offer a 3.99% dividend yield.
