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For many, the main point of investing in the stock market is to achieve spectacular returns. And we've seen some truly amazing gains over the years. For example, the Mensch und Maschine Software SE (ETR:MUM) share price is up a whopping 550% in the last half decade, a handsome return for long term holders. And this is just one example of the epic gains achieved by some long term investors. On top of that, the share price is up 41% in about a quarter.
We love happy stories like this one. The company should be really proud of that performance!
Check out our latest analysis for Mensch und Maschine Software
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.
During five years of share price growth, Mensch und Maschine Software achieved compound earnings per share (EPS) growth of 32% per year. This EPS growth is slower than the share price growth of 45% per year, over the same period. So it's fair to assume the market has a higher opinion of the business than it did five years ago. And that's hardly shocking given the track record of growth. This favorable sentiment is reflected in its (fairly optimistic) P/E ratio of 46.71.
The image below shows how EPS has tracked over time (if you click on the image you can see greater detail).
It is of course excellent to see how Mensch und Maschine Software has grown profits over the years, but the future is more important for shareholders. This free interactive report on Mensch und Maschine Software's balance sheet strength 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). 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, Mensch und Maschine Software's TSR for the last 5 years was 625%, which exceeds the share price return mentioned earlier. The dividends paid by the company have thusly boosted the total shareholder return.
A Different Perspective
It's good to see that Mensch und Maschine Software has rewarded shareholders with a total shareholder return of 68% in the last twelve months. And that does include the dividend. Since the one-year TSR is better than the five-year TSR (the latter coming in at 49% per year), it would seem that the stock's performance has improved in recent times. Someone with an optimistic perspective could view the recent improvement in TSR as indicating that the business itself is getting better with time. Before deciding if you like the current share price, check how Mensch und Maschine Software scores on these 3 valuation metrics.