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While Luceco plc (LON:LUCE) shareholders are probably generally happy, the stock hasn't had particularly good run recently, with the share price falling 16% in the last quarter. But looking back over the last year, the returns have actually been rather pleasing! After all, the share price is up a market-beating 82% in that time.
Check out our latest analysis for Luceco
There is no denying that markets are sometimes efficient, but prices do not always reflect underlying business performance. One flawed but reasonable way to assess how sentiment around a company has changed is to compare the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price.
Luceco went from making a loss to reporting a profit, in the last year. When a company is just on the edge of profitability it can be well worth considering other metrics in order to more precisely gauge growth (and therefore understand share price movements).
We are skeptical of the suggestion that the 0.7% dividend yield would entice buyers to the stock. Revenue was pretty flat year on year, but maybe a closer look at the data can explain the market optimism.
You can see below how earnings and revenue have changed over time (discover the exact values by clicking on the image).
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. So we recommend checking out this free report showing consensus forecasts
What About Dividends?
It is important to consider the total shareholder return, as well as the share price return, for any given stock. Whereas the share price return only reflects the change in the share price, the TSR includes the value of dividends (assuming they were reinvested) and the benefit of any discounted capital raising or spin-off. It's fair to say that the TSR gives a more complete picture for stocks that pay a dividend. As it happens, Luceco's TSR for the last year was 84%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.
A Different Perspective
Luceco boasts a total shareholder return of 84% for the last year (that includes the dividends) . Unfortunately the share price is down 16% over the last quarter. It may simply be that the share price got ahead of itself, although there may have been fundamental developments that are weighing on it. Investors who like to make money usually check up on insider purchases, such as the price paid, and total amount bought. You can find out about the insider purchases of Luceco by clicking this link.