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BLS International Services Limited (NSE:BLS) shareholders should be happy to see the share price up 14% in the last quarter. But that doesn't change the fact that the returns over the last year have been less than pleasing. The cold reality is that the stock has dropped 28% in one year, under-performing the market.

View our latest analysis for BLS International Services

While markets are a powerful pricing mechanism, share prices reflect investor sentiment, not just 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 unfortunate twelve months during which the BLS International Services share price fell, it actually saw its earnings per share (EPS) improve by 8.9%. It could be that the share price was previously over-hyped. It's surprising to see the share price fall so much, despite the improved EPS. But we might find some different metrics explain the share price movements better.

Given the yield is quite low, at 0.8%, we doubt the dividend can shed much light on the share price. Revenue was pretty flat on last year, which isn't too bad. However, it is certainly possible the market was expecting an uptick in revenue, and that the share price fall reflects that disappointment.

The chart below shows how revenue and earnings have changed with time, (if you click on the chart you can see the actual values).

It's probably worth noting that the CEO is paid less than the median at similar sized companies. It's always worth keeping an eye on CEO pay, but a more important question is whether the company will grow earnings throughout the years. This free interactive report on BLS International Services's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

A Different Perspective

Given that the market gained 5.8% in the last year, BLS International Services shareholders might be miffed that they lost 27% (even including dividends). While the aim is to do better than that, it's worth recalling that even great long-term investments sometimes underperform for a year or more. Putting aside the last twelve months, it's good to see the share price has rebounded by 14%, in the last ninety days. This could just be a bounce because the selling was too aggressive, but fingers crossed it's the start of a new trend. Before forming an opinion on BLS International Services you might want to consider these 3 valuation metrics.

We will like BLS International Services better if we see some big insider buys. While we wait, check out this free list of growing companies with considerable, recent, insider buying.

Please note, the market returns quoted in this article reflect the market weighted average returns of stocks that currently trade on IN exchanges.

We aim to bring you long-term focused research analysis driven by fundamental data. Note that our analysis may not factor in the latest price-sensitive company announcements or qualitative material.

If you spot an error that warrants correction, please contact the editor at editorial-team@simplywallst.com. This article by Simply Wall St is general in nature. It does not constitute a recommendation to buy or sell any stock, and does not take account of your objectives, or your financial situation. Simply Wall St has no position in the stocks mentioned. Thank you for reading.