Stock pickers are generally looking for stocks that will outperform the broader market. And while active stock picking involves risks (and requires diversification) it can also provide excess returns. For example, the Bossard Holding AG (VTX:BOSN) share price is up 58% in the last 5 years, clearly besting the market return of around 17% (ignoring dividends). However, more recent returns haven't been as impressive as that, with the stock returning just 24% in the last year , including dividends .

See our latest analysis for Bossard Holding

While the efficient markets hypothesis continues to be taught by some, it has been proven that markets are over-reactive dynamic systems, and investors are not always rational. One imperfect but simple way to consider how the market perception of a company has shifted is to compare the change in the earnings per share (EPS) with the share price movement.

Over half a decade, Bossard Holding managed to grow its earnings per share at 5.1% a year. This EPS growth is lower than the 9.6% 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).

This free interactive report on Bossard Holding's earnings, revenue and cash flow is a great place to start, if you want to investigate the stock further.

What About Dividends?

When looking at investment returns, it is important to consider the difference between total shareholder return (TSR) and share price return. 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 Bossard Holding the TSR over the last 5 years was 85%, which is better than the share price return mentioned above. This is largely a result of its dividend payments!

A Different Perspective

Bossard Holding shareholders are up 24% for the year (even including dividends) . Unfortunately this falls short of the market return. The silver lining is that the gain was actually better than the average annual return of 13% per year over five year. This could indicate that the company is winning over new investors, as it pursues its strategy. Before forming an opinion on Bossard Holding you might want to consider these 3 valuation metrics.