The Holding Period Return Calculator helps you combine price change and cash income over one investment holding period. Holding period return gives a compact record of what happened between purchase and valuation or sale. It is useful for a single period, but it does not annualize periods of different lengths.
Use it as a transparent arithmetic check. The worked example below follows the same inputs and rounding as the live form, while the notes explain what the result can and cannot support.
Write down the source and date of a real investment period before entering it. That small habit makes the result reproducible and helps another reader spot a unit or timing mismatch.
Capital-gain yield = (ending price − purchase price) ÷ purchase price × 100%. Income yield = cash income ÷ purchase price × 100%. HPR = (ending price − purchase price + cash income) ÷ purchase price × 100%.
| Input or result | Meaning |
|---|---|
| Purchase price P₀ | The positive amount paid per share or unit at the start. |
| Ending price P₁ | The current or sale value per corresponding unit. |
| Cash income D | Dividends or distributions received during the chosen period. |
| HPR | Total simple return for that period, before unentered costs and taxes. |
Suppose a unit was bought for USD 100, is now worth USD 112, and paid USD 3. The price gain is 12, so capital-gain yield is 12/100 = 12%. Income yield is 3/100 = 3%.
Total holding-period return is (112 − 100 + 3)/100 = 15%.
A positive HPR means the entered ending value and distributions exceed the starting price; a negative value means they do not. The result is not annualized. A 15% result over three months and 15% over three years should not be compared as though the time exposure were equal. Fees, reinvestment timing, taxes and currency movement can materially change an investor’s realized return.
Practical use: People usually open this page when they need to combine price change and cash income over one investment holding period without building a spreadsheet for a single question. Holding period return gives a compact record of what happened between purchase and valuation or sale. It is useful for a single period, but it does not annualize periods of different lengths. For a real decision, calculate a central case and then change the most uncertain input to a reasonable lower and upper value. Seeing that range is often more informative than treating one rounded answer as permanent.
A useful result should be repeatable: keep the original inputs, unit choices and relevant date beside the holding-period percentage. If a second source uses another convention, reconcile that difference before comparing the numbers.
When sharing the answer, include a short label such as “holding-period percentage from the stated inputs.” That label keeps the number attached to its meaning. It also prevents a reader from mistaking a converted value, model output or planning estimate for a direct observation.
Scope: It does not annualize, model reinvestment, or subtract fees and taxes.
Do a quick reasonableness check after calculating. A correct-looking decimal can still answer the wrong question when the source investment period uses a different definition.
It is designed to combine price change and cash income over one investment holding period. The output is a holding-period percentage based only on the values and conventions described on this page.
Check the unit, time period, sign and source definition for every entry. For this page in particular, confirm the meaning of the investment period rather than copying an unlabeled number from another source.
Another tool may use different rounding, units, timing or assumptions. Compare its stated formula with this page’s formula and scope. For Holding Period Return Calculator, even a valid alternative convention can produce a different result without either arithmetic operation being mistyped.
Keep the displayed precision for an ordinary check, but retain source precision when the result feeds another calculation. Do not imply more measurement certainty than the original investment period provides.
The result is an educational estimate. It does not annualize, model reinvestment, or subtract fees and taxes. Use the governing document, qualified professional or official service when a decision has financial, medical, legal or safety consequences.
Repeat each substitution in the displayed formula, keep units beside the numbers, and reverse the operation where possible. The example is also checked against the working calculator shown on the Holding Period Return Calculator.
A legitimate unit conversion changes the numeral while preserving the quantity. A selector that merely labels currency or a model convention does not fetch outside data; the instructions above identify which behavior applies to this Holding Period Return Calculator.
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