For many, the main point of investing in the stock market is to achieve spectacular returns. And highest quality companies can see their share prices grow by huge amounts. Don't believe it? Then look at the HiTech Group Australia Limited (ASX:HIT) share price. It's 2924% higher than it was five years ago. And this is just one example of the epic gains achieved by some long term investors. Also pleasing for shareholders was the 17% gain in the last three months.

We love happy stories like this one. The company should be really proud of that performance!

Check out our latest analysis for HiTech Group Australia

There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. One way to examine how market sentiment has changed over time is to look at the interaction between a company's share price and its earnings per share (EPS).

During the five years of share price growth, HiTech Group Australia moved from a loss to profitability. That kind of transition can be an inflection point that justifies a strong share price gain, just as we have seen here. Since the company was unprofitable five years ago, but not three years ago, it's worth taking a look at the returns in the last three years, too. We can see that the HiTech Group Australia share price is up 144% in the last three years. Meanwhile, EPS is up 2.8% per year. Notably, the EPS growth has been slower than the annualised share price gain of 35% over three years. So one can reasonably conclude the market is more enthusiastic about the stock than it was three years ago.

The graphic below depicts how EPS has changed over time (unveil the exact values by clicking on the image).

Dive deeper into HiTech Group Australia's key metrics by checking this interactive graph of HiTech Group Australia's earnings, revenue and cash flow.

What About Dividends?

When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. The TSR incorporates the value of any spin-offs or discounted capital raisings, along with any dividends, based on the assumption that the dividends are reinvested. So for companies that pay a generous dividend, the TSR is often a lot higher than the share price return. In the case of HiTech Group Australia, it has a TSR of 3905% for the last 5 years. That exceeds its share price return that we previously mentioned. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.

A Different Perspective

We're pleased to report that HiTech Group Australia shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 50% over one year. And that does include the dividend. However, that falls short of the 109% TSR per annum it has made for shareholders, each year, over five years. The pessimistic view would be that be that the stock has its best days behind it, but on the other hand the price might simply be moderating while the business itself continues to execute. While it is well worth considering the different impacts that market conditions can have on the share price, there are other factors that are even more important. Case in point: We've spotted 3 warning signs for HiTech Group Australia you should be aware of.