Measuring Equity Returns: The Five Metrics Every Investor Should Know

In this episode of Money Lessons, Andy traces the historical shift from dividend-focused investing to earnings-based valuation, showing how mandatory financial disclosure in the 1930s transformed the way investors evaluate stocks. He walks through five essential equity metrics—earnings per share (EPS), the price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio, the dividend payout ratio, the price-to-sales (P/S) ratio, and the price-to-book (P/B) ratio—explaining what each one measures and when to use it. Andy connects these modern tools back to Benjamin Graham's pioneering work in value investing and shows how they build on dividend and buyback concepts covered in earlier episodes.