Westpac Banking Corp (ASX: WBC) shares certainly have been on form recently.
In fact, the banking giant's shares hit a multi-year high on Friday afternoon before closing the week at $39.31.
As a result, it seems quite likely that an investment five years ago in Australia's oldest bank was a good idea. But just how good was it? Let's see what a $100,000 investment in 2020 would be worth today.
$100,000 invested in Westpac shares
Firstly, it is worth remembering that five years ago we were still very much in the middle of a global pandemic.
And while share markets were recovering from the worst of the COVID selloff by October 2020, the banking sector was slower to rebound due to concerns over the potential for a spike in bad debts and weak growth.
This meant that Westpac and its peers were still very much down in the dumps five years ago and were available on the cheap.
For example, at the start of October 2020, investors were able to buy Westpac shares for $16.57 each. So, with $100,000 available to invest, they could have picked up 6,035 units.
In hindsight, this was a very good idea. Based on Westpac share price at the close of play on Friday, these shares would now have a market value of $237,235.85. That's almost $140,000 more than the original investment in just five years.
Don't forget the dividends!
The return mentioned above is purely from capital gains and doesn't include the many dividends that Westpac has paid to shareholders during the period.
Since this time in 2020, Westpac has paid out a total of 10 fully franked dividends to its lucky shareholders.
Adding them together, these payouts have a total value of $6.58 per share.
This means that those 6,035 Westpac shares would have provided an investor with an income of $39,710.30. And let's not forget that this is fully franked, so potentially worth even more depending on their tax situation.
Combined with the capital gains, a $100,000 investment in Westpac five years ago would now be worth almost $280,000. That's a staggering total return of 180%. And with its next dividend due in a couple of months, this return could soon get even larger.
This just goes to show that when quality ASX shares are sold off, it can bring about a very lucrative opportunity for investors.
