For example, suppose Peter purchased a share of XYZ for $100 and he later sells the share for $110. The capital gains yield for that investment would be 10%.
It is important to analyze both the capital gains yield and the total return yield of an investment holding. Dividends are not to be counted in a capital gains yield assessment, but keep in mind that depending on the stock, dividends could comprise a substantial portion of the total return of the stock compared to capital gains.