Historical data shows that a consistent $500 monthly investment into Verizon Communications Inc. (VZ) starting in 2020 would have turned a total investment of $50K into $63K today. This represents a total return of 26.2% over the 7-year period, compounding through dividend reinvestment and market growth.
The Impact of Dividend Reinvestment (DRIP)
Verizon Communications Inc. pays a dividend (currently yielding ~0.06%). By utilizing a Dividend Reinvestment Plan (DRIP), generated dividends automatically purchase fractional shares. Over this 7-year period, regular dividend payments totaled $12K. Reinvesting these dividends continuously compounded your returns, accelerating the portfolio's growth far beyond simple price appreciation.
VZ vs. S&P 500 (SPY) Benchmark
When comparing this dollar cost averaging strategy against a broad market index,VZ underperformed the S&P 500 ETF (SPY). The same $500 monthly contributions into SPY would have grown to $92K, compared to VZ's $63K.