The S&P 500 Index is a popular benchmark index of large-cap stocks in the U.S. The S&P 500 Index is a price index, meaning it represents the stock prices of the companies within the index. Some stocks are weighted more heavily than others, which means they have a greater impact on the value of the S&P.

How the S&P 500 Index Is Valued

The overall price of the S&P 500 is influenced by several factors, including the number of stock shares outstanding for each company and the company’s share price. In other words, the index tracks the market capitalization of the companies within the index.

Market cap is the result of multiplying the number of a company’s shares outstanding by its stock price. As a result, companies with higher market caps have more of an impact on the value of the S&P than companies with smaller market caps.

However, the value of the S&P 500 index is not a total return index, meaning it doesn’t include the gains earned from cash dividends paid by companies to their shareholders. Since many companies in the S&P pay dividends, investors should factor those cash payments into their overall investment return. There are total return indexes that track capital gains (stock price increases) as well as dividends. The S&P 500 Total Return Index (SPTR) is one such index.

The S&P 500 uses an index divisor that scales the index down to a more manageable and reportable level. The divisor is a proprietary value that can change with stock splits, spinoffs, and other variables that could affect the index’s value. Other similar indexes include the Dow Jones Industrial Average and the Russell 2000 Index.

Dividend Yield of the S&P 500

As of Sept. 30, 2022, the dividend yield for the S&P 500 was 1.62%. The record high for dividend yields was in 1932 at 13.84%.

The dividend yield for the S&P 500 is calculated by finding the weighted average of each listed company’s most recently reported full-year dividend, then dividing by the current share price. Yields are published and calculated daily by Standard & Poor’s and other financial media.

History of S&P 500 Dividends

During the 90 years between 1871 and 1960, the S&P 500 annual dividend yield never fell below 3%. Annual dividends reached above 5% during 45 separate years over the period.

In the first half of the 20th century, dividends tended to grow at a similar rate as the stock market. This relationship decisively changed in the 1960s, as stock market gains did not necessarily translate into rising dividends at the same rate.

Of the 30 years after 1960, only five saw yields below 3%. In the bull market of the 1980s, this relationship diverged further when dividend yields fell dramatically as dividends stayed flat and the broader market moved higher.

The sharp change in the S&P 500 dividend yield traces back to the early to mid-1990s. For example, the average dividend yield between 1970 and 1990 was 4.03%. It declined to 1.95% between 1991 and 2007. After a brief climb to 3.11% during the peak of the Great Recession of 2008, the annual S&P 500 dividend yield averaged just 1.99% between 2009 and 2015.

Reasons for Lower Dividend Yields

Two major changes are thought to have contributed to the collapse of dividend yields. The first was Alan Greenspan becoming chair of the Federal Reserve in 1987, a position he held until 2006. Greenspan responded to market downturns in 1987, 1991, and 2000 with sharp drops in interest rates, which drove down the equity risk premium on stocks and flooded asset markets with cheap money.

Prices started climbing much faster than dividends. Despite evidence that these policies contributed to the housing and financial bubbles at the time, Greenspan’s successors effectively doubled down on his policies.

Rise of Internet Companies

The second major change was the rise of Internet-based companies in the United States, especially following Netscape’s initial public offering (IPO) in 1995. Technology stocks proved to be quintessential growth players and typically produced little or no dividends. Average dividends declined as the size of the tech sector grew.

Part of the reason for this change in attitude toward dividends has been the reduced inflationary pressures and lower interest rates, reducing pressure on corporations to compete with the risk-free rate of return.

Low-interest rates even make low dividends attractive, and high-interest rates can make even high dividends unappealing. For example, in 1982, the dividend rate was 4.93% for the S&P 500, but the interest rate on the 10-year Treasury was around 14%. As of Sept. 30, 2022, the dividend yield for the S&P 500 is 1.62%, while as of Oct. 21, 2022, the yield on the 10-year Treasury is 4.24%.

There is much more demand for dividend stocks in this type of environment. One of the results of central bank policy in expanding the money supply via low-interest rates and quantitative easing is making dividend stocks more attractive. Dividends have been lower over time because many companies elect to return cash to shareholders in the form of stock buybacks, rather than dividends, as this technique receives more favorable tax treatment.

The S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats

The S&P 500 Dividend Aristocrats Index is a list of companies in the S&P 500 with a track record of increasing dividends for at least 25 consecutive years. It tracks the performance of well-known, mainly large-cap, blue-chip companies. Standard & Poor’s will remove companies from the index when they fail to increase dividend payments from the previous year. The sub-index is rebalanced annually in January.

The Bottom Line

The S&P 500 Index tracks the 500 largest companies in the U.S. by market cap. It is a price index, not a total return index, meaning it does not factor in cash dividends paid to the shareholders of those companies. Investors would need to factor in dividends when analyzing the Index for total returns.

As the S&P 500 is an index, investors cannot invest directly in it, but rather have to invest in funds that track the index. When investing in these funds, investors do receive the cash dividends from the companies.