I'm not sure at this point it matters what the basis is (except for tax purposes - on the shares outside the 401(k)). In other words, basis or no, it's worth what I can sell it for. On the basis of what I can sell it for, the stuff is making me over 5%. On that basis, it's something that seems (to me) worth holding on to. It has a good upside potential (PE below 10 on a stock that's had a PE over 30 for quite some time) and the dividend goes up a few percentage points every couple of years (since memory fades).
But, since you ask: The basis on the stock in my 401(k) is about 2/3 what the stock is worth, so I'm still "ahead" even though I passed up the chance to make a killing on it when it was worth 3 times what it's worth now. My bad.
The basis on the stock outside the 401(k) may take my accountant to figure. I "paid" almost exactly half what the stock is now worth, but then I had to pay regular taxes and (bloody) SS on the difference between the value at that time and the stock price at the time. Since that time, the value of the stock has fallen by about 35%. My best SWAG is that my basis is just about what the stock is worth without going back and calculating what I paid in taxes/SS.
If you have a take on this that would suggest whether I should keep this stock or sell it (based on my 'basis') I would be interested. I'm thinking simply in terms of what I could make with the money I would free up by selling it. I know my investment "style". I would not buy something more risky and in fact I can't think of anything with better upside potential with 5+% "interest" to put the money in. I'm relatively risk averse - all evidence to the contrary based on my history with this stock. In this case, I was paralyzed by my 401(k) plan back when the stock was worth 70+% of port. Later, I was probably paralyzed by inertia to my detriment. But now, keeping the stock actually seems to make sense to me. If it takes off again, I'm probably going to sell it - or not.