The main aim of stock picking is to find the market-beating stocks. But the main game is to find enough winners to more than offset the losers So we wouldn't blame long term Cervus Equipment Corporation (TSE:CERV) shareholders for doubting their decision to hold, with the stock down 55% over a half decade. And some of the more recent buyers are probably worried, too, with the stock falling 37% in the last year. The falls have accelerated recently, with the share price down 29% in the last three months.
View our latest analysis for Cervus Equipment
To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. 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).
Looking back five years, both Cervus Equipment's share price and EPS declined; the latter at a rate of 1.3% per year. This reduction in EPS is less than the 15% annual reduction in the share price. This implies that the market is more cautious about the business these days. The low P/E ratio of 7.00 further reflects this reticence.
The company's earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).
We like that insiders have been buying shares in the last twelve months. Having said that, most people consider earnings and revenue growth trends to be a more meaningful guide to the business. This free interactive report on Cervus Equipment's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.
What About Dividends?
It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. 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. We note that for Cervus Equipment the TSR over the last 5 years was -46%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!
A Different Perspective
Investors in Cervus Equipment had a tough year, with a total loss of 34% (including dividends) , against a market gain of about 2.7%. However, keep in mind that even the best stocks will sometimes underperform the market over a twelve month period. Unfortunately, last year's performance may indicate unresolved challenges, given that it was worse than the annualised loss of 12% over the last half decade. Generally speaking long term share price weakness can be a bad sign, though contrarian investors might want to research the stock in hope of a turnaround. If you want to research this stock further, the data on insider buying is an obvious place to start. You can click here to see who has been buying shares - and the price they paid.