Have Legal & General shares been a good investment over the last 5 years?

Legal & General shares have delivered a modest 5-year share-price gain, prompting an assessment of whether the stock has been a good investment over the long term. Since 12 May, the shares have risen from 245p to 284p, but the article emphasizes that five-year performance has been limited: five years ago the stock traded at 267p, and is now at 284p, a rise of just 6.4%. The main source of appeal is the dividend yield, so the analysis incorporates dividends to calculate total return. Over the last five years, the article estimates investors received 101.31p per share in dividends, equal to a 38% return on the initial 267p price. Adding the 6.4% share price gain results in a total return of 44.4%, or about 7.6% per year, before trading fees. While this compares reasonably to cash savings and roughly aligns with long-term UK market returns, it lags far behind HSBC and BAE Systems, and behind higher-growth names like Nvidia. The dividend yield is currently around 7.8%, with analysts expecting EPS of 26.2p and a forward P/E near 11, although risks remain around the balance sheet and dividend sustainability.