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When you buy shares in a company, it's worth keeping in mind the possibility that it could fail, and you could lose your money. But on a lighter note, a good company can see its share price rise well over 100%. Long term Federal Agricultural Mortgage Corporation (NYSE:AGM) shareholders would be well aware of this, since the stock is up 154% in five years. Also pleasing for shareholders was the 13% gain in the last three months.
Check out our latest analysis for Federal Agricultural Mortgage
To paraphrase Benjamin Graham: Over the short term the market is a voting machine, but over the long term it's a weighing machine. By comparing earnings per share (EPS) and share price changes over time, we can get a feel for how investor attitudes to a company have morphed over time.
During five years of share price growth, Federal Agricultural Mortgage achieved compound earnings per share (EPS) growth of 15% per year. This EPS growth is lower than the 21% average annual increase in the share price. This suggests that market participants hold the company in higher regard, these days. And that's hardly shocking given the track record of growth.
The company's earnings per share (over time) is depicted in the image below (click to see the exact numbers).
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 Federal Agricultural Mortgage's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.
What About Dividends?
As well as measuring the share price return, investors should also consider the total shareholder return (TSR). The TSR is a return calculation that accounts for the value of cash dividends (assuming that any dividend received was reinvested) and the calculated value of any discounted capital raisings and spin-offs. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. We note that for Federal Agricultural Mortgage the TSR over the last 5 years was 190%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.
A Different Perspective
We're pleased to report that Federal Agricultural Mortgage shareholders have received a total shareholder return of 18% over one year. That's including the dividend. However, that falls short of the 24% TSR per annum it has made for shareholders, each year, over five years. Most investors take the time to check the data on insider transactions. You can click here to see if insiders have been buying or selling.