FinHisaab Blog
Among 88 PSX stocks that paid dividends in each of the last five years, cash payouts added a median 5.5 points to one-year returns. See the stocks where it mattered most.
A share price chart shows only part of what a shareholder got over a year. If the company paid cash dividends, the money that landed in the shareholder's bank account is missing from the chart. For PSX companies that pay steadily, that missing part can be large enough to turn a loss into a gain.
To measure it, we looked at every active PSX stock (ETFs excluded) that paid a dividend in each of the last five years. 88 stocks qualify. For each one we compared the one-year share price return with the return once cash dividends are counted. All figures run to the close of October 26, 2026.
The table ranks the stocks by how many percentage points cash dividends added to the one-year return.
| Stock | Sector | Price return | Return with cash dividends | Added by dividends |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| POL | Oil and gas exploration | 7.29% | 23.39% | 16.09 pts |
| ATIL | Insurance | -7.32% | 6.58% | 13.90 pts |
| OLPL | Leasing and investment | -1.22% | 11.85% | 13.07 pts |
| STJT | Textile weaving | 25.75% | 37.84% | 12.10 pts |
| OLPM | Modarabas | 2.50% | 13.64% | 11.15 pts |
| APL | Oil and gas marketing | -3.39% | 7.66% | 11.05 pts |
| BWHL | Automobile parts | 17.12% | 28.08% | 10.96 pts |
| BAFL | Commercial banks | 4.49% | 15.28% | 10.78 pts |
| KAPCO | Power generation | -20.39% | -10.41% | 9.98 pts |
| HMB | Commercial banks | -22.21% | -12.35% | 9.86 pts |
Every stock in the table has paid a dividend for at least nine years in a row. The "added by dividends" column is the difference between the two return columns, in percentage points.
Century Insurance (CENI) would sit at the top of the list but is left out. Its 81% rights issue in October 2026 cut the share price in a way that is not a market loss, so its one-year price return is not comparable with the others.
The clearest cases are companies whose share prices fell. ATIL's price fell 7.32% over the year, but its shareholders came out 6.58% ahead once the cash dividends are counted. OLPL and APL show the same reversal: small price losses, positive results with dividends. MCB is another, moving from a 1.53% price fall to a 7.97% gain.
In other cases dividends cushioned a loss without erasing it. KAPCO's price fell 20.39%. With dividends the loss was 10.41%, about half. HMB went from -22.21% to -12.35%, and HUBC from -11.67% to -2.28%.
Dividends also added to gains that were already there. STJT's 25.75% price rise became 37.84% with dividends, and BWHL's 17.12% became 28.08%.
84 of the 88 stocks have a full year of return data (Century Insurance is excluded, and three stocks have no one-year figure). Among those 84:
That last figure is a useful benchmark. A consistent payer adding around five points a year is normal in this group. Ten points or more, as in the table above, is the high end.
The price return is the change in the share price over the year. It is adjusted for bonus shares and stock splits, so a bonus issue does not show up as a price fall.
The return with cash dividends adds the cash paid out during the year to the price change. The cash is kept as cash: it is not assumed to buy more shares. A fully reinvested return would answer a slightly different question. This one asks something simpler: how much better off was a shareholder once the payouts are counted?
The dividend filter counts dividend events by year. A stock qualifies if it went ex-dividend at least once in each of the last five years. It says nothing about the size of those dividends, and it does not cover other kinds of distribution. If you want to understand why measuring returns properly matters, our guide to ROI, TWR, MWR and XIRR covers the wider picture.
The screen describes one past year. It does not show that consistent dividend payers will outperform, or that the stocks at the top are good investments now. A large dividend contribution can sit next to a falling share price, as KAPCO and HMB show.
Dividends also depend on the price you paid. "Points added" is measured against the share price a year ago, so a stock whose price has since fallen can show a high contribution partly because the dividend is now large relative to a lower price. Our explainer on why a 3500% dividend isn't 35 times your money covers how to read the size of a payout.
None of this replaces a look at a company's earnings, balance sheet and ability to keep paying. The point of the table is narrower: price return alone understates what a dividend-paying stock delivered. You can compare current dividend payers on the FinHisaab dividend stocks page.
Does a stock's price return include dividends? No. The price return only measures the change in the share price. When a stock goes ex-dividend, its price usually drops by roughly the dividend amount, so a price-only return can make a steady payer look worse than it was.
What is a cash-inclusive return? It is the price change plus the cash dividends received during the period, as a percentage of the starting price. The dividends are counted as cash, not reinvested into more shares.
Which PSX stocks have paid dividends every year? 88 active PSX stocks paid a dividend in each of the last five years as of October 2026. They span banks, power, oil and gas, insurance, textiles and other sectors.
Is a high dividend contribution always good? Not necessarily. A high contribution can come from a falling share price as much as from a generous dividend. Look at the price return and the company's results alongside it.
Are dividends taxed in Pakistan? Yes. Cash dividends carry withholding tax, and the rate depends on your filer status and the type of company. The returns in this article are before tax.
This article is for educational purposes only and is not investment advice. Figures describe the year to October 26, 2026 and do not predict future returns or dividends. Source: PSX daily closing prices and company dividend announcements.