Dividend Screen: High Yield vs 5-Year Gains (Dec 2025)

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If you’ve ever searched for the highest dividend yields, you’ve probably noticed the same pattern I did: the biggest yields often come with the ugliest charts.

I used DividendSim to filter for tickers that pay meaningful income and also show positive 5-year capital gains. This was a point-in-time screen (about a week ago), so treat it as a snapshot — not a guarantee.

DividendSim screener results showing high dividend yields and 5-year total return — Most of the highest yields on the screen came with substantial capital losses — a classic “yield trap” warning sign.

My starting portfolio

To keep this simple, I picked 10 holdings and allocated $1,000 to each (a $10,000 portfolio total), with reinvestment turned on where possible.

DividendSim portfolio summary showing $10,000 holdings value — Starting point: $10,000 holdings value.

DividendSim holdings list showing 10 tickers at $1,000 each — The 10-ticker set I used: $1,000 in each holding.

Simulation results (1 year, 3 years, 5 years)

DividendSim’s simulations are a way to visualize how income + price movement interact. In the real world, dividends can change, prices can break trends, and distributions can be cut. Think of this section as “what would have happened if the same patterns continued,” not a prediction.

DividendSim simulation results after 1 year — 1 year: Ending balance **$12,292.92** (about 20%+ growth from $10,000).

DividendSim simulation results after 3 years — 3 years: Ending balance **$18,622.34** (approaching 2× the starting value).

DividendSim simulation results after 5 years — 5 years: Ending balance **$28,446.19** (nearly 3× the initial $10,000).

DividendSim growth chart showing capital, dividends earned, and reinvested growth — Growth breakdown: capital changes + dividends earned + reinvested compounding.

DividendSim chart showing monthly income over time — Monthly income trend across the 60-month simulation window.

The 10 tickers that passed my screen (snapshot)

These are the tickers I captured from my DividendSim screen — focused on high yield plus positive 5-year capital gains. The numbers below are kept exactly as they appeared in my snapshot.

Ticker	Dividend yield	5-year capital gains	Price	Notes
PVL	13.04%	119.05%	$1.83	Launched around $20–$21 (about 13 years ago). Now much lower, with a strong 5-year rebound.
SCM	12.52%	16.34%	$12.46	Dipped near $5.00 in 2020.
SBR	10.20%	136.98%	$68.25	Dip in 2020, but shows continued growth and has been around since the 1990s.
PRT	9.30%	19.44%	$3.87	Launched around $16 in 2018. Recently looks stronger.
BEVFF	8.80%	54.29%	$2.70	Ballooned around 2004 (~$21), dropped to ~$0.11 in 2009. Since then, a solid gainer.
GLAD	8.54%	17.97%	$21.07	Launched in the $40s, dropped in 2008. Another stumble in 2020, then steady growth.
SIRZF	8.17%	401.49%	$10.13	Big 5-year gain largely tied to the slow rebound from the 2020 crisis.
SRRTF	7.71%	22.36%	$10.80	5-year gains tied to the slow rebound from the 2020 crisis; no huge historical spikes.
FRHLF	7.62%	173.45%	$11.02	High ~10 years ago (~$24), bottomed under $2 in 2020. Recently looks like a steadier gainer.
JEPI	7.45%	3.84%	$57.64	Only been around ~5 years; seems relatively consistent so far.

Quick notes (what these actually are)

One thing I like about doing a screen like this is that it forces you to look past the yield number and ask: what is the underlying cashflow engine?

Many of these payouts are variable (especially trusts/royalties), and some are heavily tied to a specific cycle (commodities, credit, consumer spend, interest rates). High yield can be real — but it usually comes with a “why.”

Energy royalties / trusts (commodity-linked)

PVL — Permianville Royalty Trust. A royalty trust structure tied to oil & gas production; distributions can swing with energy prices and production.
PRT — PermRock Royalty Trust. A grantor trust designed to distribute net cash flow from its oil & gas interests; typically higher volatility, especially around oil/gas cycles.
SBR — Sabine Royalty Trust. Receives royalty and mineral interests across multiple states; income tends to follow commodity prices.
FRHLF — Freehold Royalties (OTC). A royalty company that acquires/manages royalty interests in oil & gas (and other resources); still commodity-linked, but structured differently than a U.S. royalty trust.

BDCs (middle-market lending)

SCM — Stellus Capital Investment Corporation. A business development company (BDC) that lends to private middle-market companies; yield can be attractive, but credit conditions matter.
GLAD — Gladstone Capital Corporation. Another BDC with monthly cash distributions; tends to be sensitive to credit cycles and portfolio health.

Real estate / consumer cashflows

SRRTF — Slate Grocery REIT. Owns grocery-anchored properties; often more defensive demand, but still rate-sensitive.
BEVFF — Diversified Royalty Corp. A multi-royalty corporation that acquires top-line royalties from multi-location businesses and franchisors; exposed to consumer spend across its brand mix.
SIRZF — SIR Royalty Income Fund. A publicly traded trust tied to restaurant royalty income; tends to be more “consumer cycle” than “commodity cycle.”

Options-based income

JEPI — JPMorgan Equity Premium Income ETF. Seeks monthly income using an options overlay; can reduce volatility, but may cap upside in strong bull markets.

(Not investment advice — just context so the tickers aren’t “mystery yield numbers.”)

What I took away

Yield is often a risk signal, not a free lunch. Very high yields frequently show up after price drawdowns — which is why the screener’s top-yield list can look like a graveyard.
“Positive 5-year gains” is a useful filter, but it has a trap of its own. When your 5-year window includes a major drawdown (like 2020), rebounds can inflate the percentage gain. It’s still meaningful — just easy to misread as “stable growth.”
A lot of high-income tickers are built on variable or cyclical cashflows. Trusts, royalties, and BDCs can be great income engines, but they’re usually tied to a real cycle (commodities, credit, consumer spend, rates).
Reinvestment is the quiet “multiplier.” The simulation makes it obvious: monthly income doesn’t just pay you — it can compound your position if you’re reinvesting.
The next step is screening for durability. If I were turning this into a repeatable series, I’d add filters like drawdown, payout consistency, and dividend cuts—so the output is “high income + survivability,” not just “high income.”

If you want to run your own screens and simulations (and sanity-check yield vs. total return), you can do it in a couple minutes.

Try DividendSim

Disclaimer: This article is for education and experimentation — not financial advice.

High Dividend Yields vs. 5-Year Capital Gains: What My DividendSim Screen Found