Is it not clear from my parenthetical there that I understand that? > it earns (or rather pays out to in that period) the shareholder Comment I replied to was

Is it not clear from my parenthetical there that I understand that? > it earns (or rather pays out to in that period) the shareholder Comment I replied to was calling dividends, and only dividends, within a given year we're calculating P/E for no less, the company Earnings. That just isn't correct, whatever your views on valuation, shareholder ownership, and market efficiency.