My legal and general actions have risen only 7%, so how are I sitting with a profit of 20%?

Legal and general (LSE: LGEN) The shares have only given me a modest capital performance since I began to buy them in 2023. So why do I like them so much?

According to my online commercial account, I only have 7.1%. Barely spectacular. But when I take into account dividends, my total return jumps to 19.9%. That is a much more satisfactory number. And I think it's just the beginning.

I started building my position in the Ftse 100 Insurer and asset manager in April 2023, which is added in July and August of that year. My average entrance price was 226p. In today's 242p, my capital gain is fine, but it is not exactly Rolls-Royce. To be fair, I never waited for it to be.

This FTSE 100 action offers more income than growth

However, I also received three dividend payments, in September 2023 and June and September 2024. All of which I reinvirted to buy more legal and general actions.

That income has helped convert my initial £ 4,000 into £ 4.796, after the charges. It is not a bad performance, since I have only been completely invested for 18 months. Nor is it brilliant, but this is just the beginning.

Another juicy dividend will come to my account on June 5, and another should continue in early September. Given the final legal & general yield of 8.8%, I estimate that they will total around £ 352. That will raise my possession of up to £ 5,148, even if the price of the action does not increase at all. If so, my bet will be even more.

Of course, actions could fall. My capital is at risk, and although dividends are attractive, they are never guaranteed. The price of legal and general shares has increased by 5% in the last year. More than five years has dropped 25%.

It is showing signs of life at this time, almost 10% in the last month. The actions tend to be cyclical, and a combination of interest rates of falling and decreased bond yields could boost the new demand for actions that pay dividends in the United Kingdom.

Especially with US growth actions. They seem expensive. As a service company, Legal & General can also escape the worst of Donald Trump's commercial wars. We'll see. Defensive actions like this could return to fashion.

Today, the action currently lies 32 times the profits, more than double the price ratio to average FTSE 100 of 15. That reflects some irregulation in the profits, and it is something to take into account.

Some analysts think we could get a collapse from the market, since Trump's volatility kills the Wall Street bull. Legal & General has £ 1.2trn of assets under administration, and they will immerse whether that happens. That will not help the price of shares. If it is held, you could drive the dividend. Time will say it. Short -term market volatility is always a threat, but it is the long career that matters.

Even when capital growth is not exciting, dividend shares as legal and general can generate severe wealth. True rewards arrive after five, 10 or 20 years. That is why I am happy to sit down, raise my income and let the compounds do the job while assuring me of understanding my total yield, including income, and not only the growth of the price of the shares.