Investors who hold Verizon Communications (VZ) typically do so for the dividend paid by its wireless and broadband business. Over the past year, that payout contributed about 7 percentage points to the stock’s return. Even so, the share price has lagged behind the S&P 500 over a period of five years. So take a guess: with every dividend counted, what did a five-year holder make, and how close did it come to the market?

How Far Has Verizon Stock Trailed The Market?

Measured by share price alone, Verizon stock fell 20.1% over the past five years. During that same window, the S&P 500 rose 79.6%. That left Verizon 99.8 percentage points behind the broader market. An investor focused strictly on the share price absorbed…