“Someone’s sitting in the shade today because someone planted a tree a long time ago.”
— Warren Buffett
A long holding period can reveal far more about a business than short-term price moves. For Expeditors International of Washington, Inc. (NYSE: EXPD), a 20-year buy-and-hold investment beginning in 2006 delivered a solid total return, driven by both share-price appreciation and reinvested dividends.
Using the return figures shown below, a $10,000 investment made on 09/18/2006 would have grown to $54,459.42 by 09/16/2026, assuming dividends were reinvested. That equates to a total return of 445.05% and an annualized return of 8.84%.
EXPD 20-Year Return Details
| Start date: | 09/18/2006 |
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| End date: | 09/16/2026 | ||||
| Start price/share: | $43.99 | ||||
| End price/share: | $189.04 | ||||
| Starting shares: | 227.32 | ||||
| Ending shares: | 288.33 | ||||
| Dividends reinvested/share: | $16.78 | ||||
| Total return: | 445.05% | ||||
| Average annual return: | 8.84% | ||||
| Starting investment: | $10,000.00 | ||||
| Ending investment: | $54,459.42 | ||||
The result is notable not because it suggests a straight-line path, but because it illustrates the cumulative effect of compounding across a full market cycle. Over two decades, shareholders would have lived through recessions, freight slowdowns, inflation shocks, and changing trade conditions. Even so, the combination of dividend reinvestment and price appreciation produced a materially larger ending value than the original investment.
[These numbers were computed with the Dividend Channel DRIP Returns Calculator.]
What Drove The 20-Year Return?
For Expeditors International, total return came from two sources:
- Share-price appreciation: the stock rose from $43.99 to $189.04 per share.
- Reinvested dividends: shareholders received $16.78 per share in dividends over the period, and reinvestment increased the share count from 227.32 to 288.33.
This distinction matters. Price return shows how the market valued the business over time, while total return captures the full economic benefit to shareholders. In long-duration holdings, the gap between the two can become meaningful, especially when dividends are consistently reinvested.
Why Dividend Reinvestment Matters
Dividend reinvestment adds a second layer of compounding. Instead of taking cash distributions out of the investment, each dividend purchase adds incremental shares, which can then generate future dividends of their own. In the figures above, reinvestment increased the share count by roughly 61 shares over the 20-year period, amplifying the benefit of the stock’s higher ending price.
The calculations above assume dividends were reinvested using the closing price on the ex-dividend date. That makes the result a total-return measure rather than a simple price-change comparison.
Current Yield And Yield On Cost
Based on the most recent annualized dividend rate of $1.62 per share, EXPD has a current dividend yield of approximately 0.86% using the $189.04 ending share price shown above.
Another useful lens is yield on cost. This measures the current annualized dividend against the original purchase price rather than the current market price:
- Current annualized dividend: $1.62 per share
- Original purchase price: $43.99 per share
- Yield on cost: 1.95%
Yield on cost does not determine what a stock is worth today, but it can help illustrate how income generated from a long-held position evolves over time. For dividend growth investors, that progression is often an important part of the overall return profile.
What The EXPD Example Shows
The 20-year record for Expeditors International highlights several enduring features of long-term equity investing:
- Time can outweigh volatility: extended holding periods allow operating performance and compounding to play a larger role than short-term market noise.
- Total return is the key metric: dividends can make a meaningful contribution even when current yield appears modest.
- Business quality matters: sustaining shareholder returns over decades typically requires durable profitability, balance-sheet discipline, and consistent capital allocation.
For anyone reviewing historical stock performance, EXPD offers a clear example of how a steady compounder can create significant value over a full 20-year period without relying on unusually high dividend yields.
“The most important three words in investing is: ‘I don’t know.’ If someone doesn’t say that to you then they are lying.” — James Altucher
