$100 Invested In Apple Over The Last 15 Years Would Be Worth This Much Now

Apple has outperformed the market over the past 90 days by 5.3%, generating a 7.77% return for its investors over the time period. Now, given this information, it may seem like price appreciation alone is the best way to have made money on this stock, that's not actually the case.

This is because Apple has been paying out a regular cash dividend every year over the past 15 years. Investors who fail to account for dividends are missing a key ingredient in calculating a stock's profitability over time.

Visualzing $100 Cash Growth Over Last 15 Years

Finally -- what's the point of all this? The key insight to take from this article is to note how much of a difference re-investing dividends can make in your cash growth over a period of time. Dividends surely can matter.

How do you keep track of dividend paying stocks so you can add them to your watchlist?

You can check out Benzinga's dividend data here or in an enhanced view on Benzinga Pro